Shaking up the gender debate from the bottom up
From the visible lack of women in the boardroom and on panels, to the quieter discussions around the gender pay gap and maternity rights, the media and tech industries’ problem with women is systemic – and rooted firmly in a world that still too often favours men.
In the majority of cases it’s not that we’re unaware, or being willfully ignorant, but actually finding the means to cut the tree from its roots and drive real, tangible change is proving to be a frustratingly slow process.
Two women looking to challenge the status quo from the ground up are Media iQ’s Georgiana Haig and Harriet Cunningham, who are on a mission to make sure the next generation of the media industry are instilled with the skills and knowledge they need to create a future where people aren’t discriminated against because of their gender.
Dubbed WiQ, the initiative’s aim is simple and clear: to educate and advocate gender equality and greater female representation in ad-tech, media and Media iQ, through building a community who stand for a more diverse and inclusive industry.
One year down the line and Haig (27), a product manager, and Cunningham (26), a senior account manager, have established WiQ as a fully-functioning sub-brand of Media iQ in the UK – and with a host of training workshops and networking events already under their belts, the initiative is beginning to roll-out across Media iQ head offices globally.
In fact, it has picked up so much speed over the last 12 months that running WiQ has become a permanent part of both of their job roles.
When I meet with them, they tell me they wanted to create something that is really relevant to those – like them – who are just starting out in the media industry, whose challenges and concerns are perhaps different to those much higher up the career chain.
“Media iQ has a very young workforce in general – and especially the women, a lot of us are in our first or second jobs and so we wanted to do something that really appeals to those women,” Haig (left) and Cunningham (right) tell me.
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“Going to a panel event and seeing a woman on panel who is 45-50 and CEO of massive company, as a 24 year old grad that’s been working for a year and a half that’s really hard to aspire to.”
Media iQ president Richard Dunmall and CMO Rebecca Mahony, currently the only female on Media iQ’s 8-person board, gave Haig and Cunningham the green light straight away when they took the idea to the leadership team back in March 2016, but they tell me there has been a real appetite from the bottom up.
“We get ideas from the people around us and our peers. From the bottom up you actually hear what people really want to learn, you get really honest feedback. Really basic things that mean we can make a really big difference.”
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Although designed with young women at its heart, WiQ’s sessions are open to all genders, ages and levels of seniority.
So far Haig and Cunningham have run a training workshop on the subject of unconscious bias, which they put together themselves, and one major external event with Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates, who spoke about sexism in media, government, politics, science, advertising.
Eventually they hope to run external events every three to six months.
‘That’s not very WiQ’
From seemingly harmless ‘banter’ to outright harassment, office sexism operates at all levels – and, for numerous reasons, can be tricky to call out or even identify, especially in male-dominated environments.
However, Haig and Cunningham tell me that Media iQ employees have begun using the WiQ initiative as a means to pick people up on sexist behaviour – whether intentional or not.
“For a lot of people, with it being their first job, WiQ was a real introduction to the fact that [sexism] is even an issue,” Haig said. “The feedback from our peers, especially our male peers, is like ‘wow, this is a thing?’ There’s nothing malicious; it’s just not come up in their lives so it’s not seen as a big deal.”
“But having a label for it, being able to say ‘that’s not very WiQ’, made it very easy instead of having to say ‘sorry guys, that’s actually a very sexist thing to say’,” Cunningham added. “It’s the small comments you get in offices which now people can utilise the WiQ label, which means it’s eradicated from people’s day-to-day which makes any environment a better place to be.”
Haig and Cunningham see gender discrimination from both the tech and agency side – but it feels like agencies are slightly ahead when it comes to redressing the balance.
“From a media agency side, you definitely don’t see it at the same levels as you do in tech – the agencies all have a big focus on it, they all have their own internal groups which all do amazing work,” Cunningham said.
“I think this is something that agencies are all far too aware of and already doing a lot of work. Even at my level I’m seeing loads of women getting promoted at the moment and it’s brilliant to see that.”
Indeed, it is estimated that women make up more than half (53%) of the media agency workforce, with 27% of chair, chief executive and managing director roles occupied by women.
By comparison, women account for just 17% of the UK tech industry and are paid on average 16% less than men for the same work. In the US, women under 25 earn 29% less than men their age and are sometimes offered up to 50% less than men for the same roles.
So it comes as no surprise that Haig says the tech industry needs to do more – both in terms of hiring women and keeping them there, and making it a place that younger women can aspire to grow within.
“Otherwise, as a 25-year-old you look up and think ‘I don’t see anything for me up there’.”
Looking ahead
The next stage for Haig and Cunningham is getting WiQ’s website up and running and being able to turn it into a standalone brand – outside of the Media iQ umbrella.
In addition to doing more events – both in the UK and internationally – they are also looking to do partnerships with other networks and businesses in the hope of sharing and trading knowledge and practical skills.
But ultimately, they want WiQ to be a force for good in advertising.
“We want to make a difference by actually doing stuff; putting information in people’s hands, being seen as a practical avenue for advice internally and be seen to be running practical events for our peers and the industry,” Cunningham said.
“There is a problem in our industry; let’s make sure we’re at the forefront of making a really big difference. That’s definitely something we’re starting to see [within Media iQ]. Internally and externally, we want to be part of the move.”