Professional standards of PR in three decades through the lenses of Turkish women presidents of IPRA

Public relations (PR), a profession in constant change, has evolved from publicity-oriented practices into varying degrees of professionalization and sophistication with the democratization of the world in the latter half of the twentieth century. This chapter considers recent PR history through the prism of professionalization, based on the memoirs of three Turkish women presidents of International Public Relations Association (IPRA). Taking the political-economy approach of public relations into consideration, this chapter scrutinizes the progressive elaboration of public relations practice from the perspectives of three Turkish women IPRA presidents’ within the three decades. As a dimension of professional standards, a liberal arts degree is considered appropriate training for public relations. According to the standards for PR practice and regardless of race and gender, everyone should be paid the same. A major situational constraint is that management perceives the public relations role as being more of a technician than a manager.