The rise of black and minority ethnic (BME) populations in the UK and US in recent years has led to the introduction of cultural diversity communication strategies within the advertising industry. These strategies draw on beliefs, and cultural and religious values to specifically target BME audiences. This thesis examines the processes involved in creating these strategies, by analysing the discourse and working practices of advertising practitioners. By drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations in eight advertising agencies in the UK and US, it compares the differences in producing cultural diversity communication strategies between a) the general market agencies targeting mass audiences, and b) the emerging cultural diversity agencies only targeting BME audiences. I argue that the creation of these strategies is subject to powerful constraints and institutional racism, limiting market opportunities for advertising. The thesis starts by bringing together Bourdieu's theories of habitus and field theory (1977; 1984; 1993) with contemporary studies of the relationship between 'race' and media practices. This union sets the foundation for my adaption of field theory to analyse contemporary advertising practices and to examine how discourse, working practices and 'professional advertising organisations' reinforce racist ideologies and audience exclusion. In the second part of the thesis, this theoretical framework is applied to the fieldwork. Firstly, my analysis evidences the manifestation of racism across the field and how racial stereotypes are developed. Secondly, these attitudes shape the exclusionary practices that affect how CD communication strategies are executed, particularly in the UK. Lastly, I examine two 'diversity' events run by 'professional advertising organisations', analysing how they set 'good practice' standards and the power they have in shaping working practices across the industry. Ultimately, this thesis goes beyond existing studies on racial representations, and investigates the relationship between racism and intentionality amongst the industry's powerful constraints.

In this qualitative study I explored how postgraduate psychology students treat gender in their accounts of their future profession, using a social constructionist framework. I considered how this group of future psychologists drew upon gendered accounts in three different settings in which they found themselves within the profession. These included exploring how participants constructed their own gendered identities in their narratives of how they came to be pursuing professional training in psychology; how gender featured in their accounts of therapeutic processes and interactions with clients; and finally, their reflections on gendered participation in the broader field of psychology. Interview data from two semi-structured focus group discussions with 12 postgraduate psychology students was analysed using social constructionist thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified that related to participants’ gendered accounts according to their personal, professional and more general constructions of gender, namely: 1) psychology as a profession of choice; 2) setting the scene within psychology in terms of gender, which was divided into: a) a construction of gender from the psychologists’ perspective, and b) psychologists’ construction of gender from their clients’ perspectives. The third and last main theme was 3) Increased competition for females as a consequence of women’s empowerment. This study intended to contribute to the expansion of existing literature by addressing the issue of gender and its related aspects in the field of psychology in a South African context, given the dearth of extended research conducted in developing countries so far. The findings supported those of previous studies to an extent, but mainly redressed the perspective of gender through the identification of new themes. By looking into postgraduate psychology students’ constructions of their own gendered accounts it appeared that upcoming psychologists viewed gender in complex ways, instead of typically reported notions of difference, inequality and inferiority or superiority. In this way, the benefit of understanding professional development within the field of psychology served as a valuable point of departure in understanding debates around how gender was implicated in the clientele psychologists serve. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted