When I got the results of our our research into gender in marketing last month, I was – for once in my life – gutted to have been proved right.
We’re inundated with media reports about the gender pay gap and how many decades it will take before it is closed. Across the world, girls such as Malala Yousafzai still have to fight for their education. And when companies like Netflix and Facebook announce plans for better parental leave, it makes headline news.
I wanted marketing to buck these global trends. But, alas, the evidence suggests the industry – while perhaps not inherently sexist – isn’t much better than the rest of them.
We polled 236 UK marketers (66.9% female) for our research, covering topics such as career prospects, working environment, industry events, role models and parenting. It was when we got under the skin of marketers who are parents that the gender divide became the most prominent.
Parenthood harms women’s careers more than men’s
Women who have children are far more likely to notice a negative impact on their careers than men, according to our survey. It makes sense: anyone taking a substantial career break for whatever reason will miss out on industry developments and other opportunities for the duration of that break.
This is even more pointed in an industry such as marketing, which is more dynamic than many. While shared parental leave is now possible, I’m aware of only one other marketer so far who has gone down this route. It’s going to take a long time for even those in a forward-thinking industry such as ours to break out of this gender mould – and, of course, it is a very personal choice for new parents.
But parental leave aside, it is noteworthy that 71.5% of women with children said motherhood has had a negative effect on their careers, compared with just 23.9% of men in our sample. Reasons put forward by mothers included unfair dismissal during pregnancy, costs, logistical issues around childcare, and fathers not taking responsibility for children.
On the other hand, dads (not all, but a good number) said things such as “my wife has supported me and enabled my career to grow” and “I no longer put in big hours at home”.
Lack of flexibility
Regardless of gender, parents in marketing commented on their employers’ inflexibility. Despite flexibility being ranked as one of the top five most important aspects of working life, a whopping 85% of those surveyed in marketing work full-time, traditional hours, mainly from the office.
Of those who work part-time, the majority are in-house marketers (58.3%) followed by freelancers (41.6%). The number of agency marketers working part-time? A big fat zero.
“Clients don’t care that you have children,” commented one father. “A deadline is a deadline and it has to be met regardless.”
Employers’ role
This seeming inability of the industry to be flexible means talented marketers either burn out or step out, which could mean the end of their career progression. For too long the marketing industry – and agencies in particular has been guilty of the glorification of “busy”. Long hours in the office and responding to emails around the clock have become the yardstick for being a good and committed employee. What should instead be rewarded is results, and there should be far greater flexibility in determining how best employees can achieve those results.
Employers who are able to trust their staff enough to let them do their best work by whatever means necessary will reap the rewards of better retention of good staff and happier people who do better work.
What the marketing industry needs is a dramatic culture shift when it comes to how we work – all of us, not just parents, because everyone has responsibilities outside of work. Our industry has never been content with the status quo, drifting complacently and doing things the way they’ve always been done. That way lies a slippery slope of stagnation.
It’s no good if we’re running brilliant campaigns while haemorrhaging talented people who have so much more to give. We’re better than that. Prove me right.
Download the full report here and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #GenderAgenda.
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