Diversifying gender equity in leadership in public relations: The role of mentoring and instrumental support at the organizational level

Meng, J., & Neill, M. S. (accepted, 2022). Diversifying gender equity in leadership in public relations: The role of mentoring and instrumental support at the organizational level. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, forthcoming.

Abstract: The rise of a professional career presents women in today’s public relations profession an intense challenge in balancing professional and family responsibilities. Therefore, this study is motivated to investigate female public relations professionals’ perceptions of work-family conflict in their daily life. Specifically, we focused our research on women working in the professions of communication and public relations in the United States. Our research findings confirmed that female professionals have to constantly make changes to their plans for family activities when there is a conflict due to work-related duties. Such impact is particularly intense for professionals in the age bracket 31-40. They have to use a wide variety of coping strategies to manage the work-family conflict. Findings in our research confirmed the critical role of mentoring in providing extra support and to help junior female professionals find coping solutions. Effective mentor-mentee networks can be established and used as valuable resources to support women in managing work-family conflict.