Learning to sell sex(ism)? An analysis of gender in the educational cultures of advertising students in Ireland

Abstract

This PhD project is an empirical study of how gender operates in the educational cultures of advertising students in Ireland. The research is guided by Sean Nixon’s 2003 study into existing advertising cultures and discourses in advertising agencies that work to promote traditional gendered working practices and organisational cultures hostile to gender equality. As a point of departure, this thesis brings together theoretical feminist critiques of gendered advertising, postfeminist cultures and the impact of postfeminism on gendered imagery in advertising texts, with a consideration of the cultural production processes that create advertisements. In addition, the study also explores the under-researched sphere of advertising education, especially as it pertains to gender. In particular, student attitudes and understandings of gender as they relate to the social world and to representational ideologies, their perceptions of advertising work, as well as their opinions regarding desired roles in the industry are important considerations for this study. The potential need for greater academic engagement with gender issues at the level of advertising education and training forms the hypothesis for conducting this research. The data involves a mix of in-depth questionnaires, qualitative surveys, semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers, observational data, as well as a textual analysis of the components comprising advertising modules. A thematic analytic approach has been adopted for this study, which facilitates an exploration of the dominant gendered discourses exhibited by students and the degree to which those narratives are informed by lecturers and curricula on these advertising programmes