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Audit details growing equality of sexes in advertising

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 29, 2012 | 2 min read

The once male dominated rarefied world at the upper echelons of the advertising fraternity are increasingly reflective of the make-up of society at large, according to a new study.

The IPA found that the number of female managing directors or senior in advertising shot up by 60% in the past year, bringing their total number to around a fifth of such posts – the highest proportion ever in over 50 years of such audits.

515 senior executives in advertising and media buying agencies, carrying a title of chair, chief executive or managing director, were surveyed, eliciting that 21.5% of them were women, equating to 111 individuals.

Just last year the figure stood at a mere 13.5%, meaning only 56 women held such influential positions.

Further down the ladder women are also increasingly asserting themselves, now accounting for 28% of 706 ‘executive management’ roles.

In fact it’s been a bumper year for women in the industry in general with the IPA noting that a veritable army of 10,042 are now working in ad agencies.

Similar trends were also pinpointed in terms of ethnic diversity with those from a non-white background accounting for 10.6% of all positions.

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