Welders, truckers and ad girls

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Being a confirmed right brainer, I never expected to use the words “fun” and “statistics” in the same sentence. But after hearing the stat recently that 97% of top creative positions in advertising are held by men, I decided we could all use a little fun.

Photo: Christopher Green

With the help of an XX planner friend, I decided to look at other professions. She pulled data that confirmed my suspicions: a truckload of surprising industries kick our backsides in the male/female workforce ratio.

For example, butchers, at 21.2%, outnumber top female creatives seven to one. At 34.6%, you're over 11 times more likely to be a female umpire than a top female creative. Truckers weigh in at 4.6%, welders at 5.4% and at 23.5%, you're almost eight times more likely to be a female fisherman/farmer/lumberjack than you are a creative leader.

But we shouldn’t completely lose heart.  We’re kicking some rear end ourselves versus many professions like drywall installers (2.5%), refrigeration mechanics (0.6%), and what is surely one of the most female oppressed professions: stonemasons (0.1%).

Stonemasons: the other 99.9%

Statistics don’t lie but they also don’t tell us why. Where are the women at the top creatively? Neil French, the incredibly talented and award-winning creative famously said it was because the product of women creative is “crap” and that we “don’t make it to the top because (we) don’t deserve it.”  He cited our need to “go suckle something” as a reason for our role in the industry. Gotta give him credit for speaking his mind. But names like Janet Champ and Sally Hogshead assure me that his blanket statement is crap, too. (Ironically both of these talented women have left agencies and are thriving in the industry as independents.) I’ve also of course heard the curse of the boys club blamed and once, a fellow XY Seattle creative director hypothesized, that “women are just too smart to put up with this long term.”

I however believe. I believe out there, somewhere is the next Mary Wells Lawrence. I believe we have a different perspective and a way of looking at the world that will build brands and sell our clients products. I believe that we will look at the stats some day and top female creatives will rank right up there with telemarketers (68%)  and HR professionals  (70%). 

Heck, why stop there? As the world moves deeper and deeper into a “caring” economy, top women creatives might one day rank right up there with dieticians (92.3%), speech language pathologists (96.3%), or even preschool teachers (97%).

 I believe.