Making U.S. Fire Departments More Diverse and Inclusive

Corinne Bendersky

Picture a typical firefighter … Who comes to mind ? If you imagined a white man , that’s understandable : 96% of U.S. career firefighters are men , and 82% are white. This homogeneity is striking , especially when you compare it to the U.S. military , which is 85% men and 60% white , and local police forces , which are 88% men and 73% white.

Many fire departments recognize that their lack of diversity as a problem and say they’re committed to increasing racial and gender diversity. “ We have to diversify , because it actually improves our organization. It helps us address the needs of the public better ” says Derek Alkonis , the Los Angeles County Fire Department ( LACoFD ) assistant chief.

MORBNOTE ; Not if ‘ diversity ‘ diminishes the skill level of the individual(s) responsible for the safety of society …

Ralph Terrazas , chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department ( LAFD ) , agrees : “ [We] will provide a higher level of service to the communities we serve when the people of that department respect the culture , language and beliefs of the people within that community ”…

MORBNOTE II ;’ Culture ‘ and ‘ Beliefs ‘ have fuck all to do with taming a raging inferno !!! … ‘ Communication ‘ is certainly important … But their ‘ diversity ‘ idea throws a fuck into that end of it … Carry on reading as Connie rambles on …

But what’s the actual path for departments achieving more diversity ? And if they do so , will their members embrace how it improves their organization ?

Answering these questions requires a closer look at two factors : what firefighters’ work actually consists of and what departments are currently doing to address diversity in their ranks. The answers suggest we need a new model for leaders.

What firefighters actually do.

Yes, they’re fighting fires , which requires climbing ladders , hauling hoses , and carrying victims from burning buildings. But this is only a small subset of the job. In 2016, only 4% of emergency calls to which U.S. fire departments responded were actually fires. The majority ( 64% ) were medical emergencies.

To succeed as a firefighter , stereotypically masculine traits like brawn and courage are simply not enough. Firefighters also need the intellectual , social and emotional skills required to deliver medical emergency aid , support each other through traumatic experiences and engage intimately with the communities they serve. In short , successful firefighters embody a complex mix of skills and traits.

And yet , in my research on reducing gender bias and my work conducting training on general diversity and inclusion with fire departments , I find that , when evaluating fit and competence , firefighters tend to default to a reductive set of traits ( physical strength evaluated through strict fitness tests , for example ) that serve to maintain white men’s dominance in the fire service.

As Felix Danbold and I explain in our forthcoming research in Organization Science on gender bias in the fire service , “ when the topic of female firefighters came up , the importance of physical strength was consistently and spontaneously invoked to justify the relative absence of women in the fire service , but the importance of compassion ( a female-stereotyped trait ) was rarely , if ever, brought up to argue for bringing more women into the profession ”.

We determined that this is because stereotypes about women’s relative lack of physical strength and stamina have led to a widespread belief that departments have lowered their standards to accommodate female firefighters , thus undermining the integrity of the service and posing a threat to their colleagues and communities.

While many women firefighters do have the physical abilities to succeed as firefighters , those who are or have been a part of the LAFD and LACoFD have nonetheless experienced excessive , unrelenting scrutiny and skepticism since being accepted into the ranks in 1983.

What’s being done to increase diversity ?

Many departments and industry groups are proactively trying to diversify and to change their culture to be more inclusive , particularly with respect to recruitment and promotion processes. In the mid-1990s, for example , the Stentorians created a promotion preparation program for its members to offset the insufficient mentoring black firefighters received in the field. “ This is one reason why there is relatively equal representation of blacks throughout ranks of the LAFD ” compared to the population of Los Angeles County, says LAFD Assistant Chief and former Stentorians’ president Kwame Cooper.

More recently, the LAFD and LACoFD, along with the LA Women in the Fire Service ( LAWFS ), the local industry group for women , have hosted events to help educate and prepare prospective female firefighters. “ We identify women who passed the physical and written entrance tests and are now in the pool of qualified candidates who are waiting to be hired ” says Captain Burton. “ Then we have our current women firefighters showing these interested women what the job is really like and what they need to do to succeed.”

Targeting qualified candidates from underrepresented groups to advance through the selection process. This differs from the more traditional method of relying on a random lottery from the general candidate pool , a place where women and people of color are underrepresented and thus have lower odds of being selected.

Reframing the firefighter prototype

In my forthcoming research with Felix Danbold , we find that reframing the professional prototype of what it means to be a firefighter to emphasize the importance of legitimate , stereotypically feminine traits , like compassion , has promising effects on creating a more inclusive environment for women.

We had active-duty firefighters and members of the general public watch videos of a white , male fire captain describing the most important traits of a successful modern firefighter. When he listed compassion first , followed by team orientation and physical strength , viewers’ perceptions of female firefighters’ abilities and support for gender diversification policies were much more positive then they were when they watched him present those same traits in reverse order.

This , we believe , is a promising first step in increasing the perception of professional fit of underrepresented or undervalued groups.

MORBPOINT ; The actual dealing with the inferno is a physical task that very few woman … And skinny ass men ! for that matter … Can efficiently do … And requires the natural , greater physical strength that males have … Quit attempting to argue with Ma Nature !!! … She’s ALWAYS RIGHT !!! …