What more can we do to engage ladies in landscape debate and discussion?

I was looking through Landscape Juice's Twitter analytics this morning and I noted something quite interesting.

Out of our 8,362 followers, only one third (or 32% to be precise) are female - I know you can do the math but that means 68% are male.

I haven't actually ever worked out the ratio or men/women as members of LJN, but does 68%/32% really reflect the ratio of men versus women in the landscape industry?

The Huffington Post say it's women who dominate social media (see here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/women-facebook-twitter-pinterest_n_1655164.html).

According to the Digital Flash infographic (below) women are the majority on Twitter making up 64% of users. That's almost the reverse of Landscape Juice's follower experience.

I wonder what we can put this anomaly down to? Is it because there are just many more men in the landscape industry? Is it because LJN is just more orientated toward men?

Does LJN do a poor job in presenting the kind of content women want to read? Should I even be concerned about the male/female balance? Maybe 32% is actually a good number for our sector?

More women than men use Twitter, but break that down into groups and what do you find? (I don't know, I'm just guessing.) Football fans, F1 fans, construction industry... etc - I'm willing to bet that they've all got more men tweeting than women. Does it matter? I'd say no - it's just interest groups, some of which have more men than women and some which don't.

It's also worth considering that much of the tweeting by smaller companies is quite possibly done by the wife/partner, while the front of the company is the male landscaper.

But, if the LANTRA study still holds true, then woman are arguably making a lot more noise for their weight than men in landscaping. (Go on, there's an easy joke in there, waiting to get out.)

Replies

PRO

Geoffrey King November 6, 2014 at 5:12pm

Maybe the tyical topics of the ljn JUST DON'T GRAB 'women's' ATTENTION
Andy Kenney November 6, 2014 at 5:33pm

I know the report is 3 years old, but the LANTRA study in 2011 had the male/female breakdown of workers in the landscape, horticulture and sportsturf industry at 85%/15%. Those figures, if still relatively similar today, would suggest that 32% female followers on LJN twitter is actually very promising in comparison to the % of female employees in the business.
Paul McNulty November 6, 2014 at 5:34pm

What percentage of active landscape professionals are male/female?

I mean male or female, not a combination of both! :-)

I'd bet it is men in the majority by some way, particularly as it's more the self-employed and business owners who have the greater interest in social media.

It's a shame, as the industry would be better off for having more females in it.
PRO Supplier

Helen Gazeley November 6, 2014 at 6:29pm

More women than men use Twitter, but break that down into groups and what do you find? (I don't know, I'm just guessing.) Football fans, F1 fans, construction industry... etc - I'm willing to bet that they've all got more men tweeting than women. Does it matter? I'd say no - it's just interest groups, some of which have more men than women and some which don't.

It's also worth considering that much of the tweeting by smaller companies is quite possibly done by the wife/partner, while the front of the company is the male landscaper.

But, if the LANTRA study still holds true, then woman are arguably making a lot more noise for their weight than men in landscaping. (Go on, there's an easy joke in there, waiting to get out.)
PRO

Green Girl Garden Care November 6, 2014 at 9:02pm

I wouldn't worry about it. More and more women are coming into the industry and the numbers on the forum will increase in time. Just try to avoid old fashioned comments like calling us 'ladies' maybe women sounds better!?
PRO

Phil Voice November 6, 2014 at 9:43pm

"More and more women are coming into the industry"

I think you're right.

Back in the late 80's/early nineties, my brother worked at a wholesale nursery. It was definitely male dominated in terms of management and senior positions. Women made up the the part-time/casual staff.

I can see that it's so different today with so many women are leading the way.

Helen GreenGirl said:

I wouldn't worry about it. More and more women are coming into the industry and the numbers on the forum will increase in time. Just try to avoid old fashioned comments like calling us 'ladies' maybe women sounds better!?
Paul McNulty November 6, 2014 at 10:30pm

I had no idea "ladies" was old-fashioned! It's the default for my other half's tennis club, although maybe that says more about snobby tennis clubs. :-)
Colin Hunt November 7, 2014 at 8:23am

There are a couple of women gardeners in my area, who use the fact that they are 'Lady Gardeners' as their main advertising point. ;-)

Helen GreenGirl said:
I wouldn't worry about it. More and more women are coming into the industry and the numbers on the forum will increase in time. Just try to avoid old fashioned comments like calling us 'ladies' maybe women sounds better!?
Lawncare-4u.co.uk November 7, 2014 at 2:29pm

32% girls is i think good percentage ..
Catherine Miller November 8, 2014 at 12:08pm

I am always uncomfortable with 'lady gardener's' marketing. I prefer to trade on my reputation for good quality, professional work regardless of gender.

Colin Hunt said:
There are a couple of women gardeners in my area, who use the fact that they are 'Lady Gardeners' as their main advertising point. ;-)

Helen GreenGirl said:
I wouldn't worry about it. More and more women are coming into the industry and the numbers on the forum will increase in time. Just try to avoid old fashioned comments like calling us 'ladies' maybe women sounds better!?