[Commlist] Call for Papers: 'Women in Mass Communication Industries'

Call for Papers: Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook


Special Issue: 'Women in Mass Communication Industries'


Guest editor: Dr. Maria João Cunha, ISCSP, University of Lisboa, Portugal


Key Dates

Full manuscript submission deadline: 15 January 2027

Peer review notification: 15 April 2027

Revised manuscripts due: 15 June 2027

Final manuscript delivery: September 2027

Publication: December 2027


View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/northern-lights-film-media-studies-yearbook#call-for-papers 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/northern-lights-film-media-studies-yearbook#call-for-papers>


Call for Papers

Mass communication industries, including public relations, journalism, 
advertising, and strategic communication more broadly, experience an 
important paradox, as they have undergone feminization in overall 
headcount, although this increased numerical presence has not translated 
into structural equity. Women remain systematically concentrated in 
lower-status, lower-paid roles, i.e., the ‘sticky floor’, while 
executive and senior decision-making positions continue to be 
disproportionately occupied by men, i.e., the ‘glass ceiling’. Research 
also shows that well-being, job satisfaction, and career longevity 
differ markedly by gender, and that these disparities are shaped not 
only by workplace structures but by broader life contexts in which 
professionals navigate.


Beyond the workplace, the 'motherhood penalty', as the systematic 
disadvantage mothers face in wages, hiring, and promotion, is well 
established in labour market research, but its specific manifestations 
in communication industries remain underexplored. Freelancing as an 
increasingly prevalent work form intersects with gender to produce 
contexts of either precarity or relative empowerment, while 
post-pandemic workplace restructurings and flexible working schemes are 
reshaping the professional boundaries for women. The rapid integration 
of generative AI and algorithmic automation combines these dynamics, 
introducing new equality threats that frequently reproduce and amplify 
pre-existing biases.


This Special Issue of Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies 
Yearbookinvites cutting-edge contributions that move beyond demographic 
tracking to engage the lived experiences of women in mass communication 
industries navigating systemic inequity, balancing critique with 
actionable frameworks for change. We seek empirical, theoretical, and 
methodological work that addresses persistent gaps in the field, e.g., 
intersectional, cross-cultural, and comparative research, also including 
the gendered implications of emerging technologies and collective 
feminist action in mass communication industries. While we welcome 
diverse theoretical frameworks, contributions should demonstrate a clear 
commitment to examining and challenging gendered structures of power.


We welcome submissions focusing on, though not limited to, the following 
thematic axes:

A) Critical Mass and Transformative Leadership: Examining how a critical 
mass of women in leadership positions in communication industries may 
actively reshape organizational cultures and under which structural 
conditions female leadership drives institutional change rather than 
merely reproducing existing norms.

B) Work-Life Conflicts and the ‘Motherhood Penalty’: Investigating how 
high-pressure media and communication environments interact with unequal 
distributions of domestic labour, especially for mothers. Contributions 
may also evaluate how post-pandemic workplace restructurings, flexible 
or remote working schemes, and hybrid schedules intersect with gender in 
producing imbalances, precarity or empowerment.

C) Safety, Justice, and Organizational Accountability in Mass 
Communication Industries:  We invite analyses of why formal HR 
mechanisms and reporting protocols often fail, e.g., regarding sexual 
harassment, microaggressions, and gender-based violence, and how 
organizational policy communication may be used. Contributions offering 
frameworks for developing institutional trust, accountability, and 
safety in creative and strategic communication workplaces are also welcome.

D) Intersectionality in Mass Communication: Recognising that gender does 
not operate in isolation, we encourage research exploring how race, 
ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, disability, and sexual orientation 
intersect to multiply workplace discrimination or, conversely, to 
produce complex forms of privilege within communication industries.

E) Feminist Activisms and Collective Labour: We welcome studies 
examining how internal and external feminist activist networks, unions, 
and informal collectives push for equality within mass communication 
industries, including digital advocacy, viral accountability campaigns, 
institutional whistleblowing, and unions for corporate transparency.

F) Artificial Intelligence and Gendered Algorithmic Bias: Contributions 
may explore how AI management and recruitment processes in mass 
communication industries impact female media workers, how deepfakes and 
algorithmic harassment disproportionately target women, and how feminist 
AI frameworks might create more equitable content production tools.


To keep up to date with all Intellect CFPs subscribe to our newsletter:

https://www.intellectbooks.com/newsletter 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/newsletter>

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely. The commlist has no responsibility for any damage caused by its postings. Subscription to the list automatically implies agreement with this rule.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------