The CIPR’s continued effort to increase awareness of diversity issues in the communications industry has featured a series of Equal Access Network events.

At this week’s event at the Guildhall, the Diversity Working Group and other attendees discussed gender equality within PR. The ‘Public Relations: Women in the Boardroom’ event debated why the industry, though predominantly female, still puts women at a disadvantage when accessing to MD, partner or owner of a PR firm.

“We need to work together to provide practical solutions in addressing the gender pay gap and we need to ask why, in a profession that is more than two-thirds female, women are still in the minority in the most senior positions within the industry. I hope our Equal Access Network event has gone some way in helping to raise awareness around this issue,” CIPR CEO Jane Wilson says.

Speakers, including leaders from MHP Communications and Weber Shandwick, discussed the issues surrounding the role recruitment plays in improving diversity, the work-life balance and the potential for instituting quotas for the number of women in leadership roles.

The Equal Access Network was launched 11 months ago to help build awareness for the issues, increase representation by diversity groups in the communications profession and provide a network of PR professionals.