- Author
- Federal Emergency Management Agency | U.S. Fire Administration
- Title
- Many Faces, One Purpose. A Manager's Handbook on Women in Firefighting.
- Coporate
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC U.S. Fire Administration
- Report
- FA 196, September 1999, 116 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov
- Keywords
- women | fire fighters | fire fighting | fire fighting training | fire deparments | protective clothing | physical fitness
- Abstract
- When an organization moves away from a generations-long tradition of being all-male towards a future that includes men and women equally, a significant change takes place. Change can be upsetting and threatening to those who are used to, and invested in, the way things "have always been." Fire may no know gender, but people do, and the fire chief of the 1990's spends more time managing people than controlling fire. Increasing numbers of women are becoming firefighters and fire officers, entering and advancing in a field that is still heavily male by both population and tradition. Fire service leaders who are not prepared to manage these workforce changes may find their workforce is managing them instead. Fire chiefs used to feel comfortably progressive saying, "We'll hire anybody who meets our standards." But the underlying premise to that statement has now been challenged. How have those standards been set? Are they reasonable? Can all current members of the department meet them? And what happens to someone who does meet the standards, but then faces a wall of hostility from their new co-workers? What support systems are available for those who are excluded from the privileges of the dominant group? What fire service leaders have learned, as first men of color and then women of color and white women have entered the field, is that policies that appear to be neutral, or policies that seem to apply equally to everyone, do not necessarily create equal opportunity. Altering the identity of people in a fundamentally unaltered workplace leaves the door open to friction, miscommunication and a host of interpersonal issues that can result in poor performance and a loss of teamwork, or worse. The commitment to equal opportunity in employment has evolved into a commitment to much more than that: to a workforce where diversity itself is valued. This book was developed to help the fire service leader manage the changing fire service workforce as it becomes progressively more inclusive of larger numbers of women in all ranks. It offers guidance and suggestions from people with experience and expertise, and provides choices and options more often than single "right" answers. The authors hope they have created a guide that, in calling on a wide range of resources, can be useful to a people with a wide range of needs. As a resource to fire service women, a companion document to Many Faces, One Purpose has been created, providing information for women firefighters and women considering firefighting careers. Copies of Many Women Strong: A Handbookfor Women FireFghters are available from the U.S. Fire Administration. Two specific limitations of this document must be noted. While the material has received legal review, it does not consider the requirements of most state or local laws and regulations. And, while the information here was current as of mid-1996, legal issues are always subject to change. This handbook is not intended to be a substitute for competent legal advice, which should always be sought before implementing any policy with legal implications. The ideas and resources in the handbook have been drawn from the experiences of fire departments across the country in more than two decades of women's involvement in career-level fire suppression. They are offered here to all those in the fire service, career and volunteer alike, whose job it is to manage the transition to a gender-integrated workforce and who wish to make that transition as smooth as possible. This book is particularly created for, and dedicated to, fire service managers. The ease of that transition depends above all on their commitment and hard work. Many Faces, One Purpose was prepared under contract to FEMA by Women in the Fire Service, Inc. It was made possible only with the assistance of dozens of people from fire departments and other agencies throughout the country who provided information and shared their valuable insights. For this assistance, the researchers and writers of this handbook offer their sincere thanks.