Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Why Women Leave Journalism
Why Women Leave Journalism
3 Summer 2007
Method
The researchers conducted individual, in-depth, standardized-question
interviews16 with 17 women who had worked full-time in journalism after
college and subsequently decided to leave their jobs. The interview method was
chosen because it provides rich detail and description. Although only 17 women
were interviewed, the sample members demographics varied greatly. Their
journalism experience ranged from one year to 30 years, and their years of birth
ranged from 1949 to 1982. Thirteen of the women were Caucasian, four were
Asian and one was black. Nine were married and eight were unmarried. Nine
had children and eight did not (although the married women not always were
the same women who had children). The women lived throughout the United
States.17 Because of the diversity of the sample chosen, 17 in-depth interviews
substantiated enough data for a clear picture of women who left journalism jobs.
In telephone interviews of one hour to two hours during 2004 and 2005, the
respondents were asked a consistent list of questions. Many of the respondents
talked about subjects beyond the set of questions, and follow-up questions
based on these topics were asked. Most questions sparked discussiona
conversation with a purposeas described by Lindlof.18
Interview subjects were located through snowball sampling, which was
chosen because it provided a wide cross-section of women.19 The women were
promised anonymity in compliance with human subjects approval from the
University of North Texas Institutional Review Board and the Southern Methodist University Institutional Review Board. To protect their identities, respondents were coded FJ1 through FJ17 (Female Journalist 1 through Female
Journalist 17).
After completing the interviews, characteristics of each respondent were
identified and the data were analyzed. Transcripts of the interviews were
examined and patterns and themes were identified, employing inductive
reasoning to find answers to the research question.20
Results
Several respondents expressed passion for journalism but said they were
disappointed by newsroom cultures that failed to accommodate their needs and
desires. They said they enjoyed journalism as a career but the hours and
demands of the newsroom did not fit well within their lives.
Its very difficult to lead a balanced life in the newspaper business,
especially in a competitive market, said FJ2.21 You were supposed to give your
blood to the news, and after 10 years of that, it took its toll. A cultural shift in
The women
in this study
perceived
that they
were part of
a subordinate
class at the
maledominated
news
organizations
where they
worked.
Many of my friends in journalism have achieved success because the first doors
that opened for them were purely based on connections and not merit.49
FJ6, who worked in the male-dominated realm of business reporting, said
most colleagues attitudes about the job were competitive, which seems to me
very male.50 Men tended to be dismissive of women in the industry. I used to
deal with these white guys in chinos and they used to talk really slowly to me,
although she holds two degrees from Harvard.51
FJ8 pointed out that the content of newspapers reflects the . . .
Notes
1. Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad, Amy Jo Coffey and Maria Tucker, Enrollment Growth Rate
Slows; Fields Focus on Undergraduate Education at Odds with University Setting, Journalism and
Mass Communication Educator 60, no. 3 (fall 2005): 286-314.
2. ASNE annual survey, 2005 ASNE.org, <http://www.asne.org> (16 April 2005).