PR coalition ‘Diversity Benchmark Study’.

The Public Relations Coalition, an alliance of 23 industry related organizations, announced the findings of its first diversity benchmark survey today. The survey is part of the commitment made at the Coalition’s “Diversity Summit” — held last year — to increase efforts in improving diversity in the public relations and communications fields.

The survey focused on two main areas of the profession: minority and female representation. Most respondents believe that the PR industry needs improvement at all levels of minority representation, particularly at the senior level. The survey found that, as a percentage of staff, representation of minority groups decreases for senior management positions compared to non-managerial roles. While the majority of respondents agreed that the industry is very diverse as it pertains to women, results indicated that there is room for improvement when it comes to filling senior level positions with women.

“The results and recommendations gathered from this research will hopefully provide the leaders in our profession with guidance when they’re considering important talent issues,” said James E. Murphy, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Accenture and chairman of the Coalition. “It is encouraging that the industry has rallied behind this issue, and has pledged a long-term commitment to improving the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce.”

To view report CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat reader required):

http://www.hprala.org/docs/div_survey_05.pdf