On Tuesday, 21 May, the Advertising Council Australia (ACA) will host an all-industry webinar to reveal the findings of the second Create Space census. Close to 2,500 professionals from advertising, media, and marketing participated in the anonymous census in November 2023, providing an updated picture of the industry’s demographics and experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The rich data set will compare last year’s findings with the results of the inaugural 2021 census, shedding light on shifts in gender representation, social and ethnic diversity, mental health, family status, and experiences of inclusion at work.
Ahead of the release of the report, B&T sat down with Rose Herceg, chair of ACA’s D&I Committee, to discuss whether progress has been made on DE&I and where the industry needs to focus its efforts moving forward.
Herceg landed the number seven spot on B&T’s Women In Media Power List as part of the Women In Media Awards in 2023. Entries are open now for the 2024 Women In Media Awards, presented by Are Media.
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B&T: What is your overall take on the census results? It seems there has been a lot of progress for women in senior roles compared to 2021.
Herceg: Females working in Australian advertising are making progress. They now dominate all five levels within the Create Space Census, from the C-suite right through to entry-level roles.
The data shows that females in C-suite/executive management roles increased by 8 percentage points to 54 per cent in 2023, and female creatives or designers in C-suite/exec management positions jumped by 9 percentage points to 30 per cent, which is a significant shift in just two years.
Female ambition is now matched by family-friendly policies, demonstrating that women can have a family and continue to progress to the most senior levels. This is not just a possibility but a reality for women and men alike. The more women see female leaders at the helm, and the more men witness this, too, the stronger and more diverse our industry will be. In five years’ time, I hope this doesn’t even come up as a question because we should, by then, have equal representation, and it’ll be a non-issue. That’s the hope!
B&T: Despite a big 9-point jump from 2021, women still lag behind men at CCO and ECD levels of the creative department. Why do you think that might be?
Herceg: The 9 percentage point gap means we are closing in. Given the number of very senior women coming through the ranks, we’ll see another big jump over the next several years. We’re at a tipping point. Ask me again in 3-5 years.
B&T: Some of the verbatims from last year’s census mention homophobic microaggressions and women who do not fit the “effeminate, submissive role” being pushed out of leadership teams. Why are these allowed to persist in 2024?
Herceg: These issues aren’t unique to our industry. They are societal. How we raise our kids and what they see in their home environment translates to the workplace. Thankfully, these constitute a tiny percentage of the verbatims received and the solution is to call it out in the workplace. This means that if any of us see it, we need to address it as it happens.
B&T: Women significantly over-indexed in junior manager roles and below. Is there a way that more men could enter the industry at early stages without sacrificing women’s ascension to higher roles?
Yes. Advertising is a thrilling industry. Creativity and imagination fuel business growth. What we do helps drive the economy. We create new products, services, and revenue streams. If we position it exactly that way at the graduate level, then I believe we can get more young men to consider advertising as a long-term career.
Join Advertising Council Australia’s all-industry webinar at 2pm today to hear the full results of 2023’s Create Space Census. Register here.
