UKCF22: Don’t ‘Mind the Gap’, Close It!

Led by Nicola Kemp, editorial director at Creativebrief, the ‘Don’t ‘Mind The Gap!’ Close It!’ panel discussion brought together viewpoints from all across the spectrum to talk about what has been a long overdue discussion and what adland hopes to resolve soon  - maternity leave in advertising, as well as gender equality in the workplace. And although there have been notable changes made in the past ten years on these issues, a lot of women in the industry are facing a number of challenges related to equal pay, difficulty having their biological needs met by their employers, and fear of falling out of employment after gaps in their careers. 

As the panel promised, it started with unveiling truths that albeit uncomfortable, prove to be paramount, especially when spoken in rooms where senior folk of the advertising world are present. Anna Whitehouse, the founder of Mother Pukka, who wasn’t able to attend but connected through a video call, kicked off the talk by rightfully assessing that although she might not be the best person in terms of privilege to be talking about women’s issues, she also is coming from a “very primal, maternal and visceral place” when she is talking on the subject. “I will not raise my daughters to end up with somebody in a position telling them that they cannot continue after they become mothers,” she says, relating to her own lived experience. “I am not necessarily talking about this because of me. Beyond my personal story, there is the story of the future generations, for which we do this,” said Anna.

She continued by bringing it back to the industrial revolution and making the point that working culture is centred entirely around male biology and how men function best, which simply does not work for women. “Let’s be honest about simple biology and recognise the simple statement of a mother nature fact that women hormonally are utterly different than men,” she said, referring to motherhood, menopause, perimenopause and overall hormonal changes in female bodies, which function on a 31-day cycle rather than a 24-hour cycle, like male bodies, which simply fit better with a nine to five work day. Sharing a deeply personal story Anna says, “I was miscarrying at my desk for fear of telling my employer and losing my job when they found out, out of fear of having a massive red flag over my head. No woman ever should be sitting at her desk bleeding, losing a baby and being afraid of telling anybody.”

Bouncing from women losing their jobs because of the natural functions of their bodies, Molly Tappin, associate creative director at Jungle Creations, explained that a tendency she has noticed is that the industry is very good at recruiting women and girls at the starting stages of their careers, as interns or juniors, in an attempt to conceal the massive gap that forms when we go up the ranks to the C-suite and leadership positions. “Somehow in the middle everyone seems to get lost,” agreed Sue Higgs, ECD at Dentsu Creative. Sue explained how a lot of companies do have policies that are getting better at maternity and paternity leave, but although that is the case, something seems to “happen in the middle” where we see a mass fallout, especially among women. “They don’t get the support to get to the next stages,” said Sue. “When you fight your way to the middle and it’s just you, it’s a bit boring. Listen to your people and take them on an individual basis to help them actually stay the course and move up, rather than get stuck and pull out.”

Tejali Shete, senior art director at Amazon Prime Video and founder at Roll Dot agency, who had a gap in her career related to her own motherhood experience, also explained that the process of re-entering is extremely difficult, especially for women coming from other countries or women of colour. “I was foreign with a career gap after maternity - it was impossible to get the attention of hiring managers. I had to do a placement even though I had done 15 years in the industry beforehand. I had to set up my own agency to be able to prove I still deserve my place here.” According to Tejali, a huge problem related to this is the mentality that the industry has that “you are only as good as your last work is,” because many times with women who have gaps in their career, their last work might feel outdated and not representative of their talent or strive. 

“I ran my own race by listening to myself only. If I listened to people around me I’d probably be lying in a ditch somewhere,” said Sue, who is herself a single mother of three children. And although that is an achievement in and of itself, she actually never mentioned it to people when she did have her kids. “I’m happy that at least now I can say it. Before I had to make myself quiet. You have to be incredibly intuitive of your own pace - don’t sprint the whole time and put boundaries in.” When she had her first daughter, Sue shared she worked at an agency that has never seen a creative have a baby before and actually had to actively fight for her parental leave. “You’re not going to tell me to lose this child,” are the words she used exactly when going into her boss’ office at seven months pregnant. “And that was not that long ago,” she says.

Molly, who hasn’t had kids, explained that this is today still a fear of hers. “If I do have kids, suddenly I am scared of falling behind and not being able to get back to the role I already have - this fear should not exist, and it does not matter how fast paced the industry is.” The explanation of a “fast paced” industry is actually one of the roots of the issue with people dropping out of it after a gap in their work. “This is not on us,” reminded Tejali. “It is everybody’s issue. Yes, the industry changes at a speed, but not as much as you not being able to ever catch up again. If we keep up this narrative and this hustle culture, it will make people who have been away from work feel irrelevant. You’ve given away so many years of your life to build up those skills and the short break, which is disproportionate comparatively, can take everything away,” she continues.

When speaking of parental leave and in relation to the gender pay gap, Sue explained that the onus should be on both men and women needing to take the emotional load when a child is born. “A man’s job is not more important than a woman’s. I encourage this every day in my own space - as a man, go read some bedtime stories, do some school runs. It is not on women to fill this gap, it is on everybody. Women already have enough on.”

Many times that load that is “enough” is actually well beyond some women’s abilities, which leads to what Nicola calls “quiet quitting,” but with the reshaping of office culture and the hopeful glance to the future, this could change. “I have seen quiet quitting so much around me,” shared Tejali. “But I would urge women to stop and consider, just for this brief moment in time when their priorities have changed and they’re not performing at their best, for only this moment, can you say ‘I’m doing my best’? Hang in there, go slow and your time will come. The results will not only be good for you, but for the entire industry. Don’t give up yet. Go slow.” Molly continued by saying, “you don’t need to always be the best in the room. Women always put so much pressure on themselves to be the best, but they don’t need to. We can slow down.” Sue agreed, “Do what you need to do to get by, do what you need to, but go forward. Don’t quit and say no whenever you want to, and stop saying sorry.”