Diversity in Public Relations

I found this article on the issue of diversity in public relations and it was interesting because it was something I had never thought of. The article discusses the lack of diversity in the PR field and the measures PRSA has taken to try to incorporate and welcome different races and sexual orientations into the field.

When I first started reading the article, I couldn't help but thinking that this was yet another ploy to make PR professionals look better by having a racially and sexually diverse industry. Everyone knows that diversity always looks good. Then I started to realize how beneficial diversity would be to public relations. People of different heritages and lifestyles have unique views on business that the average Caucasian person might not have. To most effectively promote and relate to all sectors of the public, diversity is more than necessary.

Why then, has it been so difficult to recruit and maintain ethnically and sexually diverse people in the public relations field? PRSA has implemented many diversity outreach programs and has taken many measures to place people of different races in influential positions but they are still having problems.

When I look at my school's public relations program, the overwhelming majority of students are Caucasian. This fact may have a lot to do with the fact that GCSU does not have an extremely diverse campus. I think public relations might need to do some PR work for themselves. I know that before I came to school and desperately needed a major, I had never really heard of a PR professional. I came upon this field by chance while searching for something that I might enjoy. Maybe we should take a break from promoting others for a minute and promote ourselves!