Next week, the 3% Conference founder Kat Gordon will be revealing their latest research, “The Elephant of Madison Avenue.” There has been progress — the number of women in creative leadership positions has risen from 3 per cent to 11 per cent — but there is still an awfully long way to go.
The research was done by the same company that conducted “The Elephant in the Valley,” a look at gender disparity in technology, and highlights the continuing bias and harassment that continues to pervade the advertising industry. The 3% Conference findings help compare and contrast the two industries and the work yet to be done. The research also parallels the 4A’s own work on the subject — and there is substantial corroboration.
500 women took part (200 took the survey the day it launched) and though the results are not exactly optimistic, the opportunity to improve is right in front of all of us.
On this occassion UK’s The Drum caught up with Kat Gordon to weigh in on what to expect from the findings, what was learned, what shocked her and where we’re headed next:
