Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann

STRUGGLING FOR ACADEMIC LEGITIMACY. A GERMAN PERSPECTIVE ON PUBLIC RELATIONS AND THE GAP BETWEEN PROFESSION AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE

International Public Relations Research Conference March 8-12, 2017 Orlando, FL, USA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

International Public Relations Research Conference | March 8-12, 2017 | Orlando, FL, USA | Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann 2

STARTING POINT

In Germany, research on PR as professional field is mainly concentrated on professional demands without comparing them to higher education at universities.

There is a lack of systematic knowledge transfer from the professional to the educational field and vice versa.

DETAILS

- RQ1: What are the contemporary requirements in PR practice?

- RQ2: What is the status quo of PR education at German universities?

METHOD & OPERATIONALIZATION

Complementary mixed-method design: quantitative content analyses of university curricula (N = 107) and job advertisements (N = 188), in-depth interviews with PR practitioners in leading positions (N = 27), quantitative survey among young PR professionals (N = 180)

Main categories: education, qualifications, professional field

DETAILS

- Education: e.g., study, degree, evaluation, work experience, training

- Qualifications: fields of knowledge and skills (learnable abilities and personal qualities)

- Professional field: e.g., status, working conditions

RESULTS

Education: A university degree and practical experiences (e.g., internship, training) are important preconditions for a successful career start.

Qualifications: In most cases, there is a gap between the practical and educational focus on PR qualifications. Nevertheless, young professionals and PR experts are satisfied with the qualification level after studying.

Professional field: Most of the PR job opportunities are not addressed to graduate students but rather to experienced professionals. Although the professional field of PR is hard to enter it has a promising perspective: The job satisfaction is rated very high although there is a heavy workload.

DISCUSSION

PR has always been and will remain a heterogeneous professional field with changing demands in education and practice.

The struggle for academic legitimacy is anchored in an insufficient integration of academic and professional perspectives on public relations education. Phenomena, such as globalization and digitization, need the integration of both the view of PR practitioners as well as PR scholars.

Further research has to foster the change of perspective in a national and an international context. In the case of Germany, contemporary qualification standards have to be renewed.

STARTING POINT PR between Profession and Academic Discipline

The understanding of PR education in Europe and Asia is highly influenced by research in the United States, which can be especially seen in Germany. (Wehmeier, 2008; Jarren & Röttger, 2015)

Since the 1990s, there has been a strong professionalization. Since then, PR as an academic discipline has more and more entered German universities. (Röttger, 2010; Fröhlich, 2013)

Research is mainly concentrated on professional demands. (e.g., Szyszka, 1990; Altmeppen & Roters, 1992; Röttger, 1997; Wienand, 2003; Bentele et al., 2015)

The discipline of public relations struggles for academic legitimacy. (Fitch, 2016)

Although PR is a highly dynamic field with changing demands in education and practice there is a lack of systematic knowledge transfer from the professional to the educational field and vice versa!

International Public Relations Research Conference | March 8-12, 2017 | Orlando, FL, USA | Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann 3

RESEARCH QUESTIONS PR between Profession and Academic Discipline

What are the contemporary requirements in PR practice? RQ1

What is the status quo of PR education at German universities? RQ2

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METHOD Complementary Mixed-Method Design

JOB ADVERTISMENTS

• Quantitative content analysis • N=188 • Feb 2016 • Krippendorf‘s α = .84

UNIVERSITY CURRICULA

• Quantitative content analysis • N=107 • Feb 2016 • Krippendorf‘s α = .92

PR PRACTITIONERS

• In-depth interviews • N=27 • Dec 2016 - Feb 2017

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

• Quantitative survey • N=180 • Dec 2016 - Feb 2017 • Cronbach‘s α = .65 - .81

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OPERATIONALIZATION Category Development

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RQ1

RQ2

• study • degree • discipline • evaluation • work experience • training • etc.

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS PROFESSION

• knowledge specialized knowledge research methods media change journalism statistics etc.

• skills computer skills autonomy teamwork writing/editing strategy development etc.

• status sector position income etc.

• working conditions workload job satisfaction work equipment etc.

• Szyszka, 1995; 1998 • Wienand, 2003 • DPRG, 2005 + inductive extension

• Bentele et al., 2015 • Fröhlich et al. 2005 + inductive extension

• Bentele et al., 2015 • Szyszka et al., 2009 • Weyer et al., 2014 + inductive extension

RESULTS Education

In Germany, 107 study programs at 45 universities contain public relations as part of their professional profiles (BA: 57, MA: 50). PR is taught especially in seminars (BA: 71%; MA: 93%) and lectures (BA: 66%; MA: 41%) although PR practitioners require more practical orientation in education. At least around half of the study programs offer PR exercises and project seminars.

Young PR professionals (Age: M = 25.91, SD = 2.69) have a bachelor’s (58%) or master’s (40%) degree especially in communication science (42%) and linguistics (18%). PR is often (32%) a major or minor subject in their study. According to PR experts, the university degree is an important prerequisite which is further confirmed by PR job adverts.

Although most of the experts have no insights into the study programs they recognize an increased level of the students’ qualifications. Young professionals are also satisfied (58%) with their education, but only the minority (35%) feels prepared for a PR job.

60 percent of young professionals have previously absolved a PR internship (Months: M = 10.37, SD = 8.73), which is highly advised by PR experts and demanded in job adverts.

A majority of the organizations (81%) offer a continuing education which is highly rated by PR experts due to ongoing media changes and digitization processes.

International Public Relations Research Conference | March 8-12, 2017 | Orlando, FL, USA | Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann 7

RESULTS Qualifications

There is a gap between higher education and PR practice…

The knowledge fields PR, foreign languages, journalism, marketing and media planning are much more required in practice than they are actually taught at universities. PR and foreign languages are also highly demanded in job adverts. At the same time 79 percent of the bachelor programs – but only half of the Master programs – include PR specific knowledge. Foreign languages are only a minor part in the curricula (BA: 53%, MA: 44%).

The skills strategy development, writing/editing, stakeholder communication, teamwork and resilience are highly demanded in practice but significantly underrepresented in education. Backwards, empirical methods are less considered in practice than in university teaching (BA: 91%, MA: 86%).

… but there are approaches to some extent.

PR experts and young professionals name editorial capabilities, creativity, teamwork, flexibility and excellent communication as the most important job skills. Writing skills (BA: 70%, MA: 46%) and teamwork (BA: 74%, MA: 68%) are also supported by curricula.

These abilities are supplemented by highly ranked knowledge fields as media change, new media forms, social media, general and specialized knowledge. Specialized knowledge (BA: 93%, MA: 90%) and media change/new media (BA: 79%, MA: 64%) are also important elements in most of the study programs.

International Public Relations Research Conference | March 8-12, 2017 | Orlando, FL, USA | Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann 8

RESULTS Professional Field

The professional field of PR is hard to enter, but has a promising perspective.

Good job opportunities for experienced professionals (65%), but less for young professionals with first experiences (23%). Fixed-term contracts dominate (82%).

Young professionals gain work experience in agencies (63%) and companies (25%), especially in trainee positions (62%).

Young professionals are rather generalists than specialists.

General public relations (76%), press/media relations (66%) and online relations (56%) are core tasks of young professionals which are also the most named work areas in job descriptions.

Job satisfaction is rated very high although there is a heavy workload.

Young professionals indicate a high job satisfaction (M = 8.60, SD = 1.66), good working atmosphere (M = 8.43, SD = .85) and a moderate workload (M = 4.91, SD = 3.00).

Leading practitioners confirm overall satisfaction but indicate growing demands. At the same time topics such as work-life-balance gain weight in the young generation.

Digitization and a growing dynamic will dominate future directions of the field.

International Public Relations Research Conference | March 8-12, 2017 | Orlando, FL, USA | Michael Johann & Anne-Christin Hoffmann 9

DISCUSSION Looking Back, Looking Forward

PR has always been and will remain a heterogeneous professional field with changing demands in education and profession.

The struggle for academic legitimacy is anchored in an insufficient integration of academic and professional perspectives on public relations education.

Phenomena, such as globalization and digitization, need an integrated view of both PR practitioners as well as PR scholars.

But: Is there a crisis of identity? What is (or should be) the universities‘ role in the education of future PR practitioners?

The mission:

Further research has to integrate both the view of PR practitioners as well as PR scholars in order to get a holistic understanding of a complex professional field (e.g., interviews with university teachers).

There is a need for a comparative study to get a complete impression of higher PR education, especially regarding different media systems and international professional demands.

In the case of Germany, contemporary qualification standards have to be renewed.

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References

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Wienand, E. (2003). Public Relations als Beruf. Kritische Analyse eines aufstrebenden Kommunikationsberufes. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

CONTACT

Michael Johann, M.A.

Centre for Media and Communication University of Passau, Germany

michael.johann@uni-passau.de

mi_johann

Anne-Christin Hoffmann, B.A.

Centre for Media and Communication University of Passau, Germany

anne-christin.hoffmann@uni-passau.de

AnnChriHo

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