The Experiences of Women in a Public Relations Firm: A Phenomenological Explication

Abstract

This paper uses the phenomenological method to explicate the experiences ofwomen in a public relations firm. Seven women from a major midwestern publicrelations firm were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of the experienceof being a woman in public relations during the feminization of the profession.From the interviews, four initial clusters emerged: perceptions of public relations work prior to entering the field, realities of the nature of the work, language as a shaper of reality, and conflicting roles. These clusters were furtherreduced to create two thematic clusters: the struggle with the changing role ofwomen in society and the experience of being a woman in public relations. Itwas found that the essence of the experience of being a woman in public relations is in the negotiation and reconciliation of the ascribed roles and achievedroles. Women enter the workplace being, first, a woman, and, second, a daughter. In these roles, expectations and accepted behaviors are already formed,however, the added dimension of the work environment creates another roleleading to internal conflict when defining the experience of being a woman inpublic relations. Although the roles appear to be unique and mutually exclusive,they are tightly woven together to create the essence of the experience of being awoman in public relations.