New Groundbreaking Initiative Created to Combat Gender Bias in Marketing and Advertising Through Education at the University Level

NEW YORK, January 20, 2023 — The ANA Educational Foundation (AEF) and SeeHer, the leading global movement to eliminate gender bias in marketing, media, and entertainment, announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind new initiative, SeeHer Education.

SeeHer Education is the first certificate program combining Marketing and Gender Studies. The program brings together top professors and practitioners who are leading efforts to eliminate gender bias in marketing and advertising and will act as a bridge between academia and industry.

The specific outcomes of SeeHer Education include:

  • Educate the next generation of marketing leaders on how to eliminate gender bias from day one of their careers.
  • Demonstrate how to increase accurate, fair portrayals of women and girls.
  • Provide best-in-class professional credentials combining academic theory with industry best practices.
  • Create a pipeline of talent for the industry that brings a gender-equity mindset to marketing.

The curriculum is being developed by professors from Gender Studies and Marketing at top universities and institutions, including Baylor University, Bentley University, Harvard University, Howard University, Loyola University Chicago, Marquette University, Michigan State University, Rutgers University, The Smithsonian Institute, Texas Christian University, University of Illinois, and University of Miami.

The program is set to launch in September 2023. It will be open to undergraduate students studying Marketing, Communications, and Gender Studies, expanding to other disciplines, graduate students, and entry-level marketers.

“We are so proud to be a part of this new initiative, which is core to our SeeHer mission,” said Christine Guilfoyle, president, SeeHer, ANA. “It’s critical that the next generation of marketers and media leaders bring a gender-equal mindset to the content they create and stories they tell throughout marketing, media, and entertainment.”

Gord McLean, president, CEO, AEF, added, “The goal of SeeHer Education is to eliminate gender bias from marketing and advertising from the outset by giving professors and students open access to cutting-edge, interactive educational materials. It’s been a wonderful experience to see marketing professionals and educators working so closely together to advance what is clearly such an important common cause.”

Elements will also include modules for in-classroom use by professors and joint industry and academic events led by SeeHer and AEF.

SeeHer member DoubleVerify, a leading software platform for digital media measurement, is the first industry partner for SeeHer Education.

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ABOUT THE ANA

The ANA’s (Association of National Advertisers) mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.

ABOUT THE AEF

ANA Educational Foundation (AEF) is the bridge that connects the advertising, marketing, and academic communities. We educate and inspire the next generation of talent while advancing the understanding of marketing and advertising in society. Created in 1983 and supported by its three constituencies, advertising, media, and marketing, the AEF is a 501(c)3 operating foundation. We create and distribute educational content to improve the understanding and appreciation of the societal role of advertising and marketing through our programs on college campuses across the country.

ABOUT SEEHER

SeeHer is the leading global movement of media, marketing, and entertainment leaders committed to the accurate depiction of women and girls in advertising and media. Launched in 2016 by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in partnership with The Female Quotient (The FQ), SeeHer is changing how women are portrayed in media. To help members benchmark success, SeeHer spearheaded the development of the Gender Equality Measure® (GEM®), the first research methodology that quantifies gender bias in ads and programming. GEM® proves that content accurately portraying women and girls dramatically increases both purchase intent and brand reputation. The GEM® methodology quickly became the industry standard, winning the prestigious ESOMAR Research Effectiveness Award, leading to its global rollout in 2018. The movement has expanded its verticals to include sports (SeeHer In Sports), music (SeeHer Hear Her) and health (SeeHer Health.)  Follow SeeHer on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter.