Closing the gap: why mentorship isn’t just a nice-to-have in comms

Our industry faces a frustrating paradox. Across PR, communications, and marketing, women make up 60% to 70% of junior and mid-level roles. Yet, look at the senior-partner level, and that representation plummets to just 29%.

The barriers are systemic. We’re looking at a persistent leadership wage gap, with overall PR industry pay gaps shown to have widened to 17%, in the PRCA UK’s 2025 Census. We see a compounded recognition gap for women of colour, with campaign groups like People Like Us highlighting that nearly 30% report having their strategic ideas overlooked in pitches until repeated by someone else. For neurodivergent professionals, traditional agency structures often reward immediate verbal agility over brilliant strategic output. Left unchecked, informal networking simply perpetuates affinity bias and leaders naturally mentor those who look and act like them. We desperately need structured mentorship and sponsorship to break these cycles.

At Babel, I’m deeply passionate about making mentorship actionable and accountable. Everyone in our team is matched with an informal mentor or buddy, specifically selected based on their individual needs and short-to-long-term goals, operating separately from their line manager. Beyond our own walls, we actively encourage our people to engage in reverse mentoring, external schemes, and informal peer-to-peer chats across the industry.

It’s this belief in shared experience that brought me back for my second year as a mentor with the Women in PR and PRWeek Mentoring Scheme, supported by Opinium and 72Point. Reflecting on my first year, my mentee, Lou Loxley, shared how the process helped her increase her confidence, including when it came to positioning the success of her plans, actions and incredible results, alongside  building relationships with key stakeholders within her organisation. 

But mentoring is absolutely a two-way street. Over the past year, I learned the vital importance of patience and active listening. I learned to provide guidance while holding space for trial and error, balancing bitesize goals with a clear north star. Hearing the inspiring journeys of women in our industry is a privilege, and I am incredibly excited to begin working with Ellis Orchard for this year's programme.

The energy at this year’s launch event was brilliant. With a record number of applicants, the room felt like a true ‘cargo net’ of opportunities - women pulling each other up to rise as a group. The panel discussion, featuring Chris Allen, Laura Burch, and Naomi Smith, tackled the tough realities straight on. They highlighted the double pay gap reality for the global majority and neurodivergent professionals, reminding us that many start their careers facing a completely different gap than others.

They also touched on how, for those from working-class backgrounds, learning to advocate for yourself in professional spaces is a distinct, necessary skill. Their advice to new mentees was spot on: set clear goals and prepare for your sessions, but don’t be too rigid. Be intentional, and set the tone for how you want to show up.

Career progression is just one piece of the puzzle. Mentorship enriches our networks, broadens our perspectives, and gives us the tools to push through when we feel stuck. Structured schemes are a vital step in tackling our industry’s challenges, but they aren't the finish line. There is still so much more to do, and we have to keep moving.

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