| Women in Sales Promotion
Women on Top - A special report examining
the challenges facing women seeking senior roles in
marketing, plus profiles of some of the industry’s
leading female directors.
As this year’s intake begins studying for the
ISP Diploma in promotional marketing this month, women
once again dominate. In recent years, the gender split
among the candidates – chiefly account executives
and junior marketers – has been consistent at
about 75 per cent female. But look at the board rooms,
and their bosses continue to be predominantly male.
But this is changing…
Justine Clement, managing director of promotions
company Unmissable, says this disparity is particularly
true client-side. “From my experience when dealing
with agencies, we deal with a lot of female account
directors, but when dealing directly with clients,
we still find that the higher positions are more likely
to be occupied by men.”
So, if marketing is something of a utopia where gender
is not an issue, why are there fewer women in top
roles? Clement at Unmissable – where most of
the senior positions are held by women – says
that women are perceived as being able to handle top
roles as well as men but believes that “women
so have to prove themselves more than men.”
The answer seems to lie in what the TUC this month
called the “motherhood penalty” when it
revealed that the difference between men and women’s
pay more than trebles when women reach their 30s.
This is certainly true of the marketing profession,
says Clement at Unmissable. “If women are taking
time off to have children, they feel the pressure
of having to come back to work quickly so as not to
affect their career paths, but it is often difficult
for them to retain the same positions after maternity
leave, especially if they are looking for more flexible
working hours. Climbing the career path with a young
family in tow is very difficult and sacrifices have
to me made.”
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