Women Gain Ground in Marketing Industry’s Workforce: Report

Women overwhelmingly comprise the bulk of the marketing industry’s workforce and at the senior leadership level, female representation is now likely at an all-time high.

Forty-seven percent of the top marketer positions are female, up from 45 percent last year. Meanwhile, 53 percent are male, down from 55 percent, according to the report from ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing.

In January, Stacey Grier was named as the first female CMO at The Clorox Co., leading a global team of more than 300.

“As a woman, to feel like you’ve gotten to pioneer that ground—it is a lot of responsibility but it also makes you feel really good,” she told Chief Marketer.

Marketing departments skew highly female: 64 percent female and 36 percent male. All job levels skew female—senior level, mid-level upper end, mid-level lower end, entry-level professional and admin/clerical/support.

The report cited a “red flag” that entry-level professional and mid-level lower end new hires are both almost two-thirds female. “Why aren’t more young men entering (or remaining in) the marketing industry?” the report asked.

At the senior level, the gender balance now skews more female: 52 percent female and 48 percent male (versus 46/54 in the 2018 report)

Other articles you might enjoy:

• Is Your Talent Strategy Built to Last?
• How to Climb the Marketing Ladder from a Woman Who Knows
• Hiring Qualified Marketing Talent is Challenging: Survey
  

The news is not as positive when it comes to diversity.

Only 12 percent of CMOs and equivalents are diverse, down from 13 percent last year. African-Americans/Blacks comprise three percent of CMOs, but are approximately 14 percent of the total population. Asians comprise five percent of CMOs, and are six percent of the total population. Hispanics/Latinos comprise four percent.

Marketing departments overall are 70 percent white (non-Hispanic), versus 69 percent in the 2018 study.

Fifteen of 26 companies provide employees the opportunity to self-identify as being LGBTQ.

Respondents provided the solutions to remedy the lack of diversity in marketing departments. Here are some of their comments:

• Potential talent is not looking for just any organization to join; they want to know that the organization is inclusive of them and their experiences.
• Adopt a global inclusion strategy
• Establish a diversity and inclusion council with HR
• Implement a marketing diversity and inclusion learning plan to ensure all marketers have the knowledge and skills to recognize unconscious biases
• Demand a diverse candidate slate as part of the interview process
•Tie senior leadership compensation/bonus to employee diversity metrics
• Company marketing site shows diversity

The study queried ANA member companies.