Back in November of 2011 I received a request to help Dr. Twyla J. Cummings, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology round up some participation in this study aimed at determining how women are positioned in our industry today. Since you need the study info to understand the context of the results, here it is…
2011 Women in Graphic Communication Research Study
The outcome of a 2000 RIT Printing Industry Center research study suggested that women made up an integral part of the Graphic Communication industry and would continue to do so. The researchers of this study suggested that as the industry continued to change and the search for key personnel became more competitive, more women would pursue careers in all areas of Graphic Communication.
The primary objective of this research is to conduct a similar study targeting a larger sample population and to determine how women are positioned in the industry today. The principal investigator will seek to conduct research with statistical significance which will help validate the trends identified in the 2000 study and assess if they have improved, declined or remained the same. The outcome of this study will contribute to the limited research conducted on this very important subject. Further, it is hoped that the results will be a validation for the women employed in the field of Graphic Communication who face challenges from what continues to be a male-dominated industry.
The Results Are IN!
Over the past few months Dr. Cummings has been preparing the comparative results. “Looking into the trends that impact women in the graphic communication industry is of utmost importance to me. In fact not just women in graphic communications, but all professional women. This is one of the primary areas in which my research has been focused over the past 20 years and I am amazed at how far women have advanced and how far they have not. From the resulting data of this study it is clear that women are a force to be reckoned with in this industry. For those of you who participated in this research please know that your contribution has been invaluable and I could not have done it without you. I would like to thank you again for all of your support in this process. I would like to personally thank Deborah Corn, Chief Operations Officer of the Print Media Center for her unwavering support and for helping me share the research survey and results throughout the industry. I would not have had such a successful response without her assistance.”
A Few Thanks You’s Of My Own…
I would like to thank RIT Grad Student Colby Kibbe for initially contacting me to see if I could help get some participation in this study, Dr. Cummings for her patience as participation grew from a trickle to a steady flow, and also for answering all my emails (lol)… the fantabulous Mary Beth Smith who helped get her LinkedIn Girls Who Print Group involved, the awesome women in my LinkedIn Print Production Professionals Group, and of course to all the women out there who took 5 mins of their time to support this endeavor.
Abstract
In 2000 a research study was conducted to determine the demographic and employment status of women in the Graphic Communication industry. In 2011 the research surrounding this study was revisited in an effort to compare the results to the earlier study and to determine if there were any significant trend changes over this eleven year span. In a comparison of the key findings from these two research studies we find that the significant changes are: 1) more women in management and senior management positions, 2) a significant increase in the number of women business owners, and 3) an increase in the length of time women have been employed in the industry. Rationales for these increasing trends could be related to advances in technology, world demographics and the breakdown of some of the barriers to entry women previously faced.
The outcome of this research suggests that women make up an integral part of the Graphic Communication industry and will continue to do so. As the industry continues to change and the search for key personnel becomes more competitive, it is believed that more women will pursue careers in all areas of Graphic Communication.
Download the Results here:
