Women and other marginalised groups still face significant barriers working in the advertising industry, according to the Behind the Ads report from the shEqual project led by Women’s Health Victoria.
Behind the Ads: Advertising Professionals’ Perspectives on Gender Equality in the Workplace reveals first hand accounts of how gender inequality plays out, the devastating effects it can have on women’s careers and wellbeing, and the risks of speaking out.
Australia’s advertising industry is silencing almost a third of people concerned by potentially sexist content, such as female stereotypes, according to a survey in November 2021 of 598 advertising professionals.
Dianne Hill, CEO of Women’s Health Victoria, said now is the time for senior leaders in the advertising industry to demonstrate leadership and commit to improving gender equality within their organisations.
“shEqual – Australia’s movement for advertising equality – is working with the advertising industry so the ads we see every day are representative, real and empowering, rather than harmful and perpetuating gender stereotypes and norms," Hill said.
"Our in-depth analysis, based on industry feedback, demonstrates the underlying culture must also change if advertising equality is to be achieved, as culture and content cannot be separated.
“We are calling on leaders in advertising to embrace this opportunity to promote gender equality in their workplaces, by addressing the five key issues identified in our report.”
The five key issues identified in the Behind the Ads:
1. [The need for] A shared understanding of gender equality
2. Sexist workplace cultures
3. Unequal employment conditions and support
4. Sexist advertising content is still being produced
5. The unclear role for men in driving change
Researchers from Empirica Research and RMIT analysed the shEqual’s survey of 598 people in 2021.
Lauren Gurrieri, associate professor, RMIT University, and co-author of the report, said this research highlights the range of gendered inequalities that persist in Australian advertising workplaces, that in turn fuel the problematic gendered portrayals that continue to be produced in advertising content.
"One issue cannot be addressed without attending to the other. Action is urgently needed to drive change in the industry given advertising's powerful cultural role in shaping gender norms and relations," said Gurrieri.
Lauren Zappa, who oversees the shEqual project at Women’s Health Victoria, said respondents gave thought-provoking feedback and insights for employers to consider and act on.
“There’s a powerful opportunity here for senior leaders in the industry to listen to the voices and ideas of those employees who are most impacted by gender inequality,” said Zappa, the manager ender equitgy and capacity building.
“What was quite striking was the number of people who welcomed the opportunity to take part in the survey considering workplace cultures in the advertising industry make it difficult to speak up about gender inequality.
“Our survey found 46% of female respondents who had hesitated to speak up about gender equality issues in the workplace felt worried about negative consequences from doing so (compared with 17% of male respondents in the same position)."
One respodnent to the survey, a female 18-34 years in an agency: “The Australian advertising industry does not place a priority on gender equality in boardrooms, so it cannot prioritise gender equality in advertising content because those people are not in the room making decisions. ...Don’t look at the ads, look at the senior leadership teams. That’s where the power, influence and control of the narrative sits...”
Another: “Advertising is a volatile industry - troublemakers get the boot, or worse still get talked about in the industry as 'painful'. It’s scary to speak your mind - safer to stay quiet.”
And a male 18-34 years-agency/client: “The industry somehow went through ‘me too’ without a single scalp. I have worked in agencies where the leaders (who are still leaders) routinely harass, make comments and even implement hiring policies based on looks. They joke about it, they are predatory and they downright criminal in their conduct. But the industry doesn’t hold them to account; the press don’t cover it and it is up to the women to raise the flag; not the men. There are people in charge of agencies who get named champions of change... but go into business with men who are found to be grooming juniors.”
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