Editorial: Women in Research

Women in Research (WIRe) was founded in 2007 by Kristin Luck as a means of connecting and supporting women in the market research community. WIRe facilitates education, entrepreneurship and other career development goals through informal networking events around the globe, an educational webinar series, and an award winning one-to-one mentoring program. 

Kristin Luck

Women play a more important role than ever in our growing global economy, with 85% of all brand purchases today made by women. Yet, incredibly, only 3% of advertising agency creative directors are women. The future of successful brands (and indeed, of successful research) is female informed. Women are key drivers of economic success; both in the board room (female led companies are 15% more likely to be profitable) and in the home but routinely remain an afterthought to both marketers and researchers.  Although women provide the muscle behind more than half of all research conducted today, less than 10% of the Honomichl 25 largest research firms have a woman at the helm.

I believe that women burn with the same ambition that men do to change the world and build successful businesses and I see more and more of my female counterparts striking out to do just that – but we still have work to do. This month, Women in Research (WIRe) has been asked to serve as guest editor for Research World. We’ve curated content that speaks to the female experience from the brightest minds and business owners in our industry today. From highlighting purchasing power and business ownership in the new female driven economy to exploring the impact of “female traits” like collaboration and transparency on business success, I hope these articles continue the conversation around greater gender equality in our industry.

Danielle Todd, Senior Research Executive at TNS and a finalist for ESOMAR’s 2013 Young Researcher of the Year award kicks off with an update of her award winning presentation “Male, pale and stale: Diversity as an Indicator of Business Success.” WIRe offers the industry’s only formal one to one mentoring program for women and, as such, I’m thrilled to have Dialogue Co-Founder and Partner Rebecca Brooks’ contribution “Hands Up the Ladder: The Importance of Female Mentors”. Maja Kermath, CEO and Founder of KOR180 addresses the delicate balance between personal time and our 24:7 connected business world in her article “Sleeping Your Way to the Top: The Importance of Work/Life Balance” and Erica Van Lieven, CEO and Founder of DirectionFirst speaks to the power of partnerships in her contribution “Collaborative Strategies for Innovative Business Growth”. Eileen Campbell, CMO of IMAX will speak to today’s female driven economy in her article “She-conomy: The Importance of Women to Brand Success”. Our final three articles in the series tie in perfectly with the “Inspiration and Our Future” session on the agenda for this year’s ESOMAR Congress. Katie Aylward and Samantha Bond from Northstar Research share their thoughts on opportunities for young researchers and Karen Foster at MM-Eye talks about strategies for attracting young talent.

With this impressive lineup of authors addressing topics that are critical to keeping our industry relevant, we’re sure readers of both genders will come away with new insights and actions that can be applied both in, and out, of the workplace. Whether just starting out in their career or a seasoned professional, our authors are lending a voice to a growing conversation around the importance of women in business. Our hope is that this article series gives all women a broader voice and serves to celebrate diversity in our industry.

To learn more about WIRe, please visit www.womeninresearch.com