As of the end of September this year, we have more than 150 members. Who is our “average member”? Based upon the information provided by our members, let me give you a brief overview.
Every year the Professional Woman’s Association of Milan changes in terms of members’ profiles, while the reasons for joining PWA remain basically the same:
- professional development
- personal growth
- networking and socializing
- the use or practice of the English language
Each year about half of our membership changes in terms of individuals, but maintain basically the same characteristics as a group.
PWA continues to be a truly international organization, representing 21 different countries ranging from Europe, to North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Twenty-three percent of our members are dual citizens, with the majority of these including Italy, the USA and the UK as one of the countries. It is therefore not surprising to see that, in numbers (considering original nationality); our Italian population is still in the lead with almost 50% of our members, followed again this year by the United States (20%) and England (14%).
The PWA age range spans half a century. Our youngest member is presently 25 years old, however almost 70% of our members are between 30 and 45 years of age.
Half of PWA’s members are employed by companies while the others are primarily independent professionals or women who run their own small businesses. The PWA working woman is company/corporate (50%), followed by independent (31%) and entrepreneurs (11%). The other 8% is made up of women in government, various types of consultants, or women in a transitional period.
Job searching continues to be a primary reason that women join PWA, whether they are new arrivals in Milan and looking for their first employment here, or are already settled in but seeking a change. Our members come from 28 different professional fields. PWA is professionally varied with about half (47% collectively) of our fields being represented by information technology, law and general legal services, marketing & public relations, and banking & corporate finance.
PWA members are also active in many other areas:
- architecture and interior design
- education and training
- arts and heritage
- language services
- entertainment and music industries
- fashion and cosmetics
- healthcare
- non-profit
- business management
- executive coaching and development
- real estate
- travel and tourism
- human resource consultants
In whatever field you are looking to find a contact, either for employment leads or purely for information, you will most likely find her among our members.
PWA continues to be strongly anchored by its renewing and former members returning after a period of absence: 63% collectively. This reflects the positive experiences women continue to find through PWA. In fact, an important reason for joining PWA is the search for human contact, which is often difficult to find in our adopted city, and most PWA women live or work in the Milan area. Even though women often join PWA when they are new to Milan seeking help with orientation, finding jobs or friends, the fact that they keep coming back is proof that they do find what they are looking for in PWA, and is the sign of a healthy and valid association.