Is Public Relations a Real Job? How Female Practitioners Construct the Profession

Abstract

This study examined how female practitioners' discourses shape perceptions of public relations as an emerging field in Russia. Interviews with 25 practitioners from Moscow public relations agencies showed that a prism of a real job and a woman's job can help explain how socio-economic, professional, and gender-defined contexts influence practitioners' perceptions of public relations and provided evidence for understanding public relations as a socially constructed gendered profession. The study found that Russian women construct their professional identities in gendered ways that may limit their career opportunities.

The author would like to thank the editor of the Journal of Public Relations Research, Dr. Karen Russell, anonymous reviewers, and Dr. Maureen Taylor for their valuable comments.