A feminist institutionalist consideration for analyzing gender in public relations

Public relations scholarship includes a longstanding body of feminist and gender research exploring gendered experiences, inequities, identities, and power within the field. This manuscript builds on this scholarship by advancing feminist institutionalism (FI) as a complementary theoretical lens for examining how gender operates within public relations institutions. Drawing from new institutionalism, FI conceptualizes institutions as structured by both formal and informal “rules of the game,” shaped through historical, sociological, rational choice, and discursive processes, and inherently embedded with gendered power relations. This institutional orientation offers particular value to public relations scholarship by providing a means of connecting gendered experiences and outcomes to the organizational structures, professional norms, histories, and systems of power through which public relations is practiced. Through a review of the gendered professionalization of public relations and scholarship on feminism, gender, and intersectionality, this manuscript demonstrates how FI can extend and organize existing scholarly conversations. The central contribution is a feminist institutionalist consideration matrix that translates key dimensions of FI into guiding questions and field-specific applications, providing an accessible entry point for incorporating an institutional gender lens into public relations research. By incorporating intersectionality and recognizing gender as fluid and socially constructed, the matrix provides a roadmap for examining gendered institutional dynamics across public relations contexts. In doing so, the manuscript seeks to facilitate greater use of theoretically grounded gender analysis within public relations scholarship.