New study shows looks and personal lives weigh heavily on women in PR leadership

UPDATE - follow-up to How appearance, not just competence, holds women back in PR: IIM, NMIMS study: A recent study from IIM Lucknow and NMIMS Mumbai examines how senior women navigate public relations careers, finding that professional success requires managing continuous scrutiny of appearance, behavior, and personal lives alongside actual competence. Researchers Prof Medha Bakhshi and Prof Papiya De based their findings on in-depth interviews with 24 women holding senior roles with 18 to 30 years of experience.

Workplace Hurdles

While women make up about 70 percent of the PR workforce, male leadership dominates the top C-suite levels. Participants reported facing outdated industry stereotypes that dismissed the field as glamorous and soft. Interviewees shared experiences of being judged for their clothing choices, physical appearance, and family decisions. One participant named Samina noted that women's promotions often carry disclaimers, while another named Sukhvinder said professional opportunities sometimes came simply because colleagues assumed she was a man over email. The study also highlighted instances of workplace harassment where victims initially doubted their own behavior, along with unequal perceptions of professional authority between male and female managers.

Context

Public relations developed rapidly during India's economic liberalization in the 1990s as a client-facing industry, which often exposed it to distinct social perceptions. Academic studies of corporate workplaces frequently examine how gender roles intersect with professional expectations in service sectors.