Martin NY MD Talks Diversity in the Industry
Equality Within Creativity: Ad Agencies Work Toward Greater Gender Diversity
When national organization She Runs It (formerly Advertising Women of New York, founded in 1934) partnered with EY and LinkedIn on a global study called "Accelerating the Path to Leadership for Women in Marketing and Media" to analyze the differences between men and women as they progress in their careers in the industry, the results were somewhat surprising: Nearly 50 percent of employees at media and creative agencies are women at the entry level, but that number then drops—in a hockey-stick pattern—to just 25 percent at the executive leadership level.
The study—which encompasses nearly 4 million people and more than 4,000 companies across seven subsectors—promoted the proverbial eyebrow raise around “the pervasive and dramatic angle of the hockey stick,” says She Runs It president and CEO Lynn Branigan. “Companies look at that and they’re baffled. They know what’s happening but they’re not sure why, and they’re not quite sure what to do about it.”
“I believe even over the last couple of years, the drop-off has become worse,” says Amber Guild, managing director of Martin NY. “Something is clearly going on.”
