Towards a New Understanding of Masculine Habitus and Women and Leadership in Public Relations

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.

Martina Topic is a Reader at Leeds Beckett University, UK. She was project lead for the British Academy funded project on Women in UK’s Advertising Industry, HEFCE funded project on Women in British Journalism, HEFCE funded projects on Women in PR and research-based teaching and student satisfaction. She currently leads the EUPRERA research network on women in public relations (previously a project lead, 2018-2021) and she is a research lead for the #WECAN project (Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking), funded by the European Social Fund and Department of Work and Pensions. She is an editor of the section Culture, Media and Film’ of Cogent Arts and Humanities Open Access journal (Taylor and Francis). Martina is also EUPRERA’ MA Award coordinator and she serves on a number of editorial and review boards in international journals. She also edited special journal issues of International Journal of PR Research, Social Sciences, Facta Universitatis and Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook.