Almost 4000 female public relations practitioners across England and Wales have left the profession mid-career or not advanced to senior positions, according to ‘The Missing Women Study’ from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

This has resulted in a significant gender disparity between junior roles, where there are more women, and senior roles filled by .. well, take a guess..

The study highlights that this issue is intersectional and given the role of the public relations profession in shaping and influencing public opinion, diminishing diversity of thought and lived experience at senior levels, is an even more worrying issue. 

I could have been a ‘missing woman’. When I had my amazing twin girls five years ago (yes, in lockdown!) and we became a family of five, I came really close to leaving my job. Obviously, we didn’t plan to have twins, and the reality was that having three children under five in full time childcare was unaffordable. Fortunately, I was enabled by UK Sport to return after maternity leave by doing compressed hours, which made it just about affordable. But this didn’t come without ‘cost’. Not to my work and not to my children, but definitely to my own wellbeing. 

There’s nothing more important to me than my daughters, and I feel a responsibility to show them they can be independent, successful women, but it’s a constant trade-off between being a fully ‘present’ parent and spinning all the many work and parent and life related plates! 

Thanks to the brilliant work of trailblazers like Joeli Brearley and Anna Whitehouse, who have campaigned tirelessly for more flexibility and better parental support in the workplace, things are definitely changing, but The Missing Women Study demonstrates the harsh realities and choices still facing women in PR, and I’m sure many other industries. 

Take the industry I am most familiar with - sport. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with some of the most inspirational female leaders in the sports industry but more ‘front line’ roles like coaching, for example, are still largely male dominated. Recent research released by UK Coaching even reported a 6% drop in the number of female coaches over the past two years. Off and on the field of play there’s still a long way to go, but women’s sport is rapidly transforming and 2025 is set to break yet more new ground, especially for women’s rugby with a home World Cup already achieving record ticket sales. It made me think, what can the PR profession learn from the rise of women’s sport? 

Daring to be different: Women’s sport has really taken off when it’s been distinctive and offered something refreshing and unique to the men’s game. Likewise, women in leadership don’t have to emulate men to be successful – they can bring different qualities and styles to leadership roles and offer diverse and complimentary perspectives and skills. Are we getting this message across to students and graduates entering the PR profession? 

Money talks: Building on the point above, brands have woken up to the opportunity to reach new audiences and drive impact through sponsoring and activating through women’s sport. Are we doing enough in PR to highlight not just the issue of losing women from the profession but also the benefits of greater diversity and talent retention if they were to stay, and what the tangible benefit to business would be in financial terms?

Parenting out loud. The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games was full of heartwarming stories of athletes celebrating their successes with their young children by their sides and even pregnant athletes competing at the top of their Game. It was a notable and noticeable shift, made possible by the ongoing work by the sports industry to better support athletes and players through pregnancy and motherhood. How many senior leaders in PR are openly talking about, and even celebrating, their parenting or caring responsibilities? This is equally important for male leaders as female to normalise caring responsibilities, regardless of gender, from the top down. We’re storytellers by trade so let’s tell this side of our own story better. 

Collaboration for the greater good. PR and sport are both competitive industries by their very nature – whether it’s competing for headlines, attention and clients or sponsors, fans and trophies. But women’s sports teams have, at times, put rivalries aside for the greater good and collaborated to drive greater reach and impact. What can PR agencies and in house teams do to work together to tackle this issue for the greater good of the profession? PR Mums is doing great job of facilitating discussions and networking on this topic.  

Innovate, for women. As women’s sport has grown, with it has come more research into female athletes’ physiology and biomechanics and innovations in training practices, clothing, equipment and footwear to better meet their needs and help them thrive. What further research and innovation is required to retain women in PR and enable them to reach their full potential? 

I’m probably in the minority of women in PR entering agency world ‘mid-career’, but I’m really proud to have joined one that champions women not just externally, through our women’s sport division Run X, but internally too. Women’s sport also has some brilliant male allies and I feel really lucky to have our MD and Founder Steve Chisholm in my corner. 

If ‘The Missing Women Study’ also hit a nerve for you, I’d love to chat about how we can work together to drive change in our industry; like sport, communications and PR is a force for good, so we must practice what we preach!