Professor Achieves Scholarly Feat: Publishes Third Breakthrough Study in Primary Field

04/27/2024

Dr. Breann Murphy, Assistant Professor of Public Relations and the Endowed Scholar of Diversity and Leadership in Public Relations at Jax State, has once again demonstrated her academic expertise, publishing in the prestigious Journal of Public Relations Research, the top research journal in public relations.

The study delves into the impact of social comparisons on women leaders in executive strategic communication roles. These women, leveraging upward social comparisons, gauge their effectiveness in the workplace. Dr. Murphy's research offers guidance for current and future women leaders in public relations, providing them with valuable insights into effective executive leadership practices. “It explores how women serving as Chief Communication Officers are using comparisons to other executive leaders as informal self-observations to enhance their own leadership,” said Murphy. “From these observations, these women are striving to balance managerial and relationship-building skills, meeting the dynamic demands of their profession.”

Dr. Chris McCollough, Professor of Public Relations and Advertising and The Ayers Family Endowed Chair of Journalism and Mass Communication at Jax State, noted the significance of Murphy’s accomplishment to the field. “Dr. Murphy is addressing an area of research largely unexplored in the past 20 years in our field, and her findings offer support to help address a clear disparity between a predominantly female workforce in our field, and an overtly male executive suite.”

McCollough also spoke about the growing prominence of Dr. Murphy’s work, stating, “The growing profile of Dr. Murphy’s work is setting the standard for quality scholarship that informs our curriculum as one of only 119 ACEJMC-accredited journalism and mass communication programs in the world. We have to be active contributors to our disciplinary knowledge, as we educate industry-ready professionals.”

The Journal of Public Relations Research, the most competitive and highest impact factor journal in public relations research, proudly hosts this groundbreaking study, serving as the banner journal for the public relations division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

This is Dr. Murphy's third publication in her primary area of study, and it is directly related to her top faculty research paper presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's public relations division.