ABSTRACT

This edited volume analyses leadership in the public relations (PR) industry with a specific focus on women and their leadership styles. It looks at how women lead, the inf luence of the socialisation process on leadership styles, the difference between feminine and masculine leadership styles, and the impact of leadership style on career opportunities for women. The book features case studies exploring leadership in PR around the world in an attempt to answer a central research question: is there a masculine habitus in the PR industry despite the rise of women in PR? The authors of each chapter conducted original research on women working in PR within their own country and provide original insights into the position of women in a feminised industry, as well as proposing new and original theoretical frameworks for future research.

Written for scholars, researchers and students of PR and communication, this book will also be of interest to those studying gender studies, leadership and organisational analysis, and sociology.

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

Is It a One Big Habitus?

part Section I|35 pages

Women and Leadership in Public Relations

chapter 3|17 pages

Women and leadership in public relations and communication management

Developing a rhizomatic typology of knowledge and professional development as an ecological radical feminine perspective

part Section II|139 pages

Something old is new again – women and leadership in public relations from west to east

chapter 4|19 pages

Barriers to leadership advancement in an age of turbulence

Perspectives from women in PR in the United States

chapter 6|18 pages

“I have found with women I have had some really good female bosses, but a lot of them can get quite bitchy”

Leadership styles, socialisation and blokishness in public relations industry in England

chapter 9|18 pages

Women's Leadership in the Public Relations Profession

Attitudes, Opinions and Communication Styles

part Section III|54 pages

The Women's Leadership in Public Relations

chapter 12|15 pages

A Public Relations “Woman of Valor”

Belle Moskowitz as a Strategist for Social and Political Change

chapter 13|18 pages

Excellent academic and research leadership from South Africa

Prof Ronèl Rensburg (1956–2019)

chapter 14|19 pages

‘She's Played a Blinder’

Nicola Sturgeon as a Crisis Leader and Change Agent in Scotland

part Section IV|34 pages

Critical and Post-feminist Perspectives

chapter 16|14 pages

The Black Swans of Public Relations

Folk Theory, Female Entrepreneurship, and Post-feminism