Public relations recruitment as boundary-making: the client, the ‘fit’ and the disposability of diversity

Edwards, Lee ORCID: 0000-0001-6542-1234 and Aulakh, Sundeep (2023) Public relations recruitment as boundary-making: the client, the ‘fit’ and the disposability of diversity. Public Relations Inquiry, 12. ISSN 2046-147X

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Abstract

In this article we explore the ways in which specialist recruitment practices for the PR industry influence the pursuit of diversity in the profession. Drawing on interviews from an exploratory study of specialist PR recruitment in the UK, we combine Abbott’s theory of boundary-making between professional fields with existing research on the exclusionary dynamics of recruitment in professions, to explain how PR recruitment consolidates the focus on client and candidate ‘fit,’ and is likely to work in favour of preserving the dominance of middle-class, white and gendered identities in the profession. In this context, diversity is perceived as a risk rather than an opportunity and becomes a casualty of professional logic.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/PRI
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2023 11:30
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2024 19:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/120467

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