Glass ceilings in Spanish advertising industry: Female professionals behind the campaigns awarded in the commercial communication effectiveness awards (2002-2018)

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study on the existence of glass ceilings in advertising agencies and advertising departments of advertisers in Spain; and quantified through content analysis those responsible for the campaigns awarded in the Commercial Communication Effectiveness Awards 2002-2018. The results indicate a greater female presence in accounts, planning and advertisers, while creativity remains under masculine control. A ceiling persists that prevents females from occupying positions of power in the advertising industry, with the smaller gap in the advertising departments of the advertiser than in agencies and, within these, in contact and planning departments. The main contribution lies in obtaining data from the Spanish context on departments other than creative, and in the auspicious context for the change that opens the extension of the feminist movements in the second decade of the 21st century.