Re-examining the existence of the “velvet ghetto” and the “glass ceiling”

This chapter reviews gender research studies about American public relations in the 1980s and 1990s and then reports on the current status, examining gender inequities in American public relations based upon salary, division of work, and the percentage of women now holding senior-level positions. The public relations industry has been concerned with matters of gender diversity for decades. In the United States, much of this interest began more than 40 years ago when the foundations of two of the world’s largest and most successful professional societies commissioned major research studies on the subject. One of these was funded by the International Association of Business Communicators Foundation and became known as the “velvet ghetto” report, while the other was supported by the Public Relations Society of America Foundation and was referred to frequently as the “glass ceiling” report.