The once male dominated rarefied world at the upper echelons of the advertising fraternity are increasingly reflective of the make-up of society at large, according to a new study.
The IPA found that the number of female managing directors or senior in advertising shot up by 60% in the past year, bringing their total number to around a fifth of such posts – the highest proportion ever in over 50 years of such audits.
515 senior executives in advertising and media buying agencies, carrying a title of chair, chief executive or managing director, were surveyed, eliciting that 21.5% of them were women, equating to 111 individuals.
Just last year the figure stood at a mere 13.5%, meaning only 56 women held such influential positions.
Further down the ladder women are also increasingly asserting themselves, now accounting for 28% of 706 ‘executive management’ roles.
In fact it’s been a bumper year for women in the industry in general with the IPA noting that a veritable army of 10,042 are now working in ad agencies.
Similar trends were also pinpointed in terms of ethnic diversity with those from a non-white background accounting for 10.6% of all positions.