TAI Professor Alice Kendrick and Mallorie Rodak (M.A. ’11) are helping visualize career pathways for multicultural advertising professionals in the U.S.
In collaboration with the ADCOLOR organization and Cardinal Change Consulting, Kendrick and Rodak gathered workplace trends and fielded a survey in which 181 members of the ADCOLOR community described their career journeys with both words and images.
ADCOLOR is an organization that celebrates and advocates diversity in the creative and technology industries. Results of the survey and related research were presented at the ADCOLOR conference Nov. 15 in Los Angeles.
A primary focus of the research was among women of color in the advertising workforce, and results reflected instances of fulfillment and success among respondents, as well as burnout and uncertainty. “Forty percent of respondents said they had changed jobs in the past two years, and a common theme was that they felt it necessary to change employers to get a promotion,” said Kendrick. More than six in ten said they had experienced a sense of lack of belonging at work during their careers.
“Career pathway models are shaped by complexity, mystery, and hidden navigational challenges, like icebergs, labyrinths, spirals, and Bermuda triangles,” concluded Rodak, who is Director of Brand Strategy at TRG.
She and Kendrick have collaborated on research among the ADCOLOR community for the past three years.