Mixing it up

I am interested in equality. I am concerned about how the Establishment is still the bastion of well-heeled, white and largely middle-aged men. 

Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with such men per se. I do, however, have a problem with the fact that in 21st-century Britain so much of power (political, economic and social) is still held by them. This is why last year I became a trustee of the Fawcett Society which  has been working to close the gender gap in Britain since 1866. It is also why I decided to tackle the issue of the lack of equality and diversity in my very own profession and agreed to become the chair of the PRCA Diversity Network a few weeks ago. 

For those of you not familiar with the world of pr (of which the PRCA is the professional body), I should report that it is predominantly white; a 2011 survey revealed that just 3 per cent of the profession were Asian, 2 per cent African or Caribbean. And it isn’t just the lack of ethnic diversity that is a problem. The profession scores badly when it comes to age, gender, disability and socio-economic group. Things are better than they were.  When I first started in consultancy 10 years ago I was struck by the dominance of white, privately-educated men. There were very few people who looked or spoke like me. Thankfully now we are seeing more women in the boardroom. But the profession is still far from representative. 

Things have to change. And before anyone gets all Daily Mail on me, this is not about political correctness (it won't surprise you I detest this phrase) , it is about attracting the best people. There is only one discrimination I tolerate and that is to favour bright people. Currently the pr profession is missing out on lots of bright people.  

We held the first meeting of the network last week. It was both fantastic and disappointing. Fantastic because it was the first time I had been to an industry event with so many young colleagues from ethnic minorities. It was great to see that these bright young things have not been put off by the image of our profession and had penetrated the walls of the bastion. Disappointing because they were the ones interested enough to attend. It would have been great if one or two of the posh, white blokes who run the profession had turned up. If things are going to change, they need to engage, they need to play their part to make a difference. I am determined that they will. Watch this space.