Is the future in PR really diverse?
By Javier Pardo, Class of Spring 2022
Canada is a diverse country. Each year, thousands of immigrants come to Canada hoping for a better life and sometimes escaping from different types of discrimination. As welcoming as it is, some industries in the country still struggle to be notoriously diverse, and one of them is public relations. If there has been a change in the past 10 years, there is still a long way to go in many aspects for PR to become the diverse pastures newcomers dream of.
When in 2020 I chose Canada as the country I wanted to build a future and a family, I was aware of its social diversity but not of its public relations landscape. Fast forward two years, including one doing a PR and corporate communications postgraduate program, I realize that the current situation does not reflect how Canada is portrayed abroad. Let me explain why.
In May 2021, the Canadian Public Relations Society released the results of the latest diversity survey made in Canada. The results are somehow worrying: about 50 per cent of the BIPOC respondents felt they had to be someone they are not when addressing their experiences in the workplace. That’s double the average of all responders, which was about 27 per cent.
Another surprising revelation is that BIPOC respondents feel the workplace scrutinizes them more than the average worker. Almost 30 per cent of them agreed they felt this way, in comparison to a 17 per cent of all respondents.
It’s a staggering picture. As someone bound to start my career in Canada I wonder what my experience would be. Will my work be more scrutinized for being part of a minority? Is it just a perception but not the reality?
The future generations of PR
It’s been an interesting trend to see that every year, more international students are willing to enter the Canadian PR industry. Bear in mind that this an utterly demanding field compared to other careers. The command of English must be perfect if newcomers want to compete for positions with native speakers. Yet, 20 per cent of the students of my cohort were coming to Canada for this program from countries like India, the Philippines, Colombia and Ukraine.
What is more interesting is that another 25 per cent of my cohort were part of minorities, born from immigrant families who have come from all corners of the world to make Canada their home.
This means that about 50 per cent of my cohort are part of a minority or BIPOC group — and that is the future that PR is heading towards in Canada. This makes, of course, the future look brighter for those with an accent and a different skin tone.
Indeed, there are reasons to look forward to a bright future. With young talented professionals coming from different parts of the world, come new perspectives, job opportunities and development. One of the most interesting cases of diversity in PR is embodied by Jessika Angarita, a Colombian-born PR professional who moved to Canada a decade ago. After working in investor relations she now heads a boutique investor relations and digital marketing firm.
Another example of diversity and inclusion is also Colombian. As a rising figure in sports PR — an industry traditionally led by men — Alejandra Rueda serves as the Media Relations Manager for Toronto FC, winners of the Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2017.
However, I wonder if these communities will face the challenges that women are facing now in PR.
Learning lessons
Although these cases are exceptional, they are not yet the rule. According to a 2021 research report by Women in PR North America, the PR industry in North America is highly feminized with a 64 per cent female workforce. However, only 59 per cent of managers are women.
If the future of PR in Canada looks ethnically and gender diverse as the current cohorts in different college and university programs, it is important to learn the situation of women in the PR industry to avoid the same results.
Companies must put an effort to make managerial positions available to BIPOC employees and empower them to gain the confidence to lead. One might argue that there is still the possibility of entrepreneurship (as is the case of Colombian Jessika Angarita), but the modern workplace should nurture talented newcomers in the industry who can provide valuable experience and perspective from their international outlook and approach.
Looking ahead
Hopefully, the future will have PR managers and VPs from across the world, from different ethnicities and genders, and PR will finally look as diverse as Canada sells its society in the international arena.
As recent graduates, we must make sure that our classmates receive the same opportunities and are well connected. We must build solid professional networks — and even personal bonds — to be able to nurture each other and take them on our journeys of success.
