THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE U.S MEDIA 2015

Likewise, the annual census of new grads’ employment prospects, hiring and job satisfaction
concluded that women graduating in 2013 and tracked through mid-2014
found more jobs than men. Women job-winners also continued a long-standing trend
of mainly choosing positions in advertising and public relations over careers in the
news industry.
Among racial minorities, the most recent year’s report showed an almost 5 percentage
point, year-to-year decline in new grads landing full-time jobs:
Of newly matriculated minorities with bachelor’s degrees, 55.1 percent landed fulltime
jobs. That’s down from 60.3 percent in 2012 and 58.7 percent in 2011. During the
survey’s 26-year history, minority bachelor’s degree holders fared best in 1995, when
68.3 percent of them found full-time jobs.
By comparison, 72.8 percent of white grads with bachelor’s degrees landed full-time
employment in 2013. That compares to 72.7 percent in 2012 and 69.9 percent in
2011. The figure for whites peaked at 81.9 percent in 1999.
Overall, of 2013 graduates who earned bachelor’s degrees, 70.4 percent of females
found full-time jobs and 65.9 percent of males did.
The survey concluded that workplace prospects for these graduates have stalled since
their industry began recovering in 2009 from an extended slump in hiring and salaries.
Nevertheless, according to a press release about the survey, “Bachelor’s degree recipients
from journalism and mass communication programs around the country in 2013
reported the same level of job offers as a year earlier, the same level of employment as
did 2012 graduates, and the same level of success in finding work that is in the field of
professional communication.”
It, too, concluded that journalism and mass communication programs continue to improve
financially in 2013, continuing a trend begun in 2010 when their operating budgets
increased. More than eight out of 10 program administrators reported that they
faced no hiring freezes and that there was no talk of cutting their programs.
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WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2015 TOC womensmediacenter.com