Developing a framework for public relations practice : an examination of gender issues among female PR practitioners in Ghana

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a current and appropriate framework for Public Relations (PR) practice among female practitioners in Ghana by investigating gender issues in PR among female practitioners in Ghana. Data were collected from the participants through face-to-face interviews, using an unstructured interview guide. After this, the data were thematically analysed using the NVivo software. The gender and feminist theories mainly guided this study. The findings showed that PR was not considered a management function as the majority of the practitioners played technician roles and were therefore not part of the dominant coalition. Moreover, PR was not considered a strategic function because most organisations did not value its contribution and therefore subsumed PR under marketing when it should have been the reverse as recommended by scholars. The educational background of most of the participants dents largely reflected marketing and other backgrounds instead of Public Relations or Communication, which affected professionalism and ethical standards in the PR profession generally. Another key finding that the study revealed was the fact that most of the participants in this study did not conduct empirical research before or after rolling out major programmes and policies of their organisations. Monitoring and evaluation were poorly conducted. Because the practitioners employed informal methods, they often produced unscientific results. The study also confirmed that PR practice in Ghana is fraught with challenges which mostly resulted from the poor understanding of the concept and purposes of PR, as well as its contributions to the achievement of organisational goals. The study further established the lack of proper regulations, which has allowed people with different backgrounds to flood the profession in the country. The development of the framework in this study was made possible as the researcher engaged in an extensive literature review, coupled with the findings from primary data as well as the basic assumptions of the theories employed in this study. The framework in this study identified some of the challenges that affected female PR practitioners resulting in their slow career progression. It also provides practical guidelines to engender excellent or effective PR practice among female practitioners within the Ghanaian context.