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ERIC Number: ED315372
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1989-Jun
Pages: 25
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Applications of Feminist Scholarship to Public Relations: Displacing the Male Models.
Grunig, Larissa A.
Feminist scholarship has the potential of modifying the assumptions, values, and methodologies of any discipline because it examines that field from the viewpoint of both men and women. Faculty development programs across the country are aimed at incorporating this new scholarship into the curriculum. One such program, the University of Maryland's "Thinking about Women," is used as the model for this paper. Curricular transformation projects share the goal of teaching about women and diversity with sensitivity in the classroom. Statistics show that women comprise 51 percent of the public relations field. This feminization of the field is cause for concern to both males and females, for history shows that shifting from a male to a female majority brings with it a depressed salary schedule and loss of prestige. Since men remain in positions of power in public relations, public relations educators should feel compelled to sensitize them to their responsibilities to the entire field--males, females, and minorities. This paper argues for curriculum review and revision of courses in public relations to reflect the new scholarship on women both in the field itself and in related disciplines. The effects of such a transformation should extend well beyond the classroom. While helping to create an inclusive community of scholars in public relations at the time, it should also establish a future generation of managers who will reject any asymmetrical model of practice that does not value the diversity, the cooperation, the equity, the ethics, and the responsibility that have characterized their education. A 33-item bibliography is included. (JB)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Women's Studies Association (11th, Towson, MD, June 1989).