Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02150151
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED282214 AUTHOR: Hunt, Todd; Thompson, David W.
TITLE: Making PR Macho: Reversing the Sex Gap in
Undergraduate Public Relations Programs.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1987
NOTE: 16 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication (70th, San Antonio, TX, August 1-4, 1987).
ABSTRACT: The sharp decline in the number of male
undergraduates registering for public relations (PR) courses
has created concern that public relations is becoming a
"woman's field" and will experience a concomitant drop in
salaries and prestige. Studies indicate that male
undergraduates perceive PR as being not well respected, as
offering little or no chance for advancement in the business
world, and as paying low salaries. Current public relations
educators should put a new emphasis on training students
(women in particular) to take leadership roles in complex
organizations; should strive for a balance of the sexes so
that "gender" is not viewed by anyone in management as an
important determinant of the character of the field; and
should actively recruit male undergraduates for the study of
public relations, with an eye toward maintaining parity of
the sexes. When Rutgers University (New Jersey) discovered
that its undergraduate PR courses were composed of 25%
males, it adopted an affirmative action approach, labeling
males a minority in the PR program, and taking the following
steps to attract them: (1) requiring a written application
from every student to enter courses, (2) recruiting from the
introductory classes, (3) using only "managerial type"
teachers, (4) using teaching assistants who are good role
models for males, (5) using internships and a "mentor"
program to match males with role models in the field, and
(6) selecting "clients" for class projects that will
interest males. Following the concerted effort to make the
profession appeal to males, the male/female ratio in PR at
Rutgers returned to almost even. (NKA)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Career-Choice; Communication-Skills;
Educational-Practices; Higher-Education; Program
Effectiveness; Program-Improvement; Role-Models; Sex-Bias;
Student-Attitudes; Undergraduate-Students
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Educational-Environment; *Males-; *Program
Development; *Public-Relations; *Sex-Role
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