- PRCA MENA and Global Women in PR MENA co-launched the mandate following the arrival of Taa Marbouta on International Women’s Day 2021.
- Four-point mandate provides men in PR and comms with an avenue to support the programme’s aims.
- Mandate launch coincides with start of first Taa Marbouta semester.
Following the launch of Taa Marbouta — a unique women-to-women mentorship programme — PRCA MENA and Global Women in PR MENA have called upon men in the PR and communications industry to adopt the Taa Marbouta mandate.
The four-point mandate outlines a commitment from men to play their part in realising the aims of the programme by tackling the career progression challenges faced by women in PR.
The first point states men will create clearer roadmaps for how women in their companies can reach leadership positions. The second, that men will provide more actionable and tangible feedback to women, answers research published in ScienceDirect showing a disparity in development feedback between men and women. Third, to commit to skills-based and future skills-based interview techniques to remove gender bias when interviewing candidates. And fourth, to proactively connect or encourage female eployees to connect with senior women in their field — which can be achieved through Taa Marbouta.
Despite women making up two thirds of the workforce in the public relations industry, more than half of senior positions and management roles are held by men. Where the Taa Marbouta programme seeks to address this imbalance by connecting aspiring women talent with experienced women leaders in the industry, the newly launched mandate provides an avenue for men to support their women peers towards the same end.
The programme founders outlined during the original launch of Taa Marbouta that solving this pressing gender issue in the industry cannot only be the responsibility of women — the mandate is a clear response to that. Those who adopt the mandate will be encouraged to share their progress towards its aims throughout the year with Taa Marbouta.
Want to adopt the mandate and make your commitment known email taamarbouta@prca.mena.global. Together, PRCA MENA, GWPR MENA, Memac Ogilvy, and all senior industry men that commit will be making an important statement to the entire industry.
