Mothers in Service

Marc Bendick's article “Fair Shake” on women in the fire service in the April issue generated a number of reader comments. Bendick responded to both letters. The original article is available at www.firechief.com.

The article “Fair Shake” was an interesting read. I was surprised, however, that one of the issues not discussed that forces some women out of firefighting is the lack of support and understanding of being both a mother and a firefighter. Personally, I have found this to be the most challenging. It has caused setbacks, hindered me and led me to rethink my career choice — more than the issues of discrimination, improperly fitting gear and lack of privacy mentioned in the article.

I know two female firefighters who left the service for the same reasons I struggle with. It's sad we are forced to choose between being a mother and being a firefighter. It would be nice to have that cake and eat it too!

Was motherhood and firefighting one of the issues looked at in the study?

I would like to say that the men and women who work with me at the Chapel Hill Fire Department are a wonderful bunch. They seek to make the extra effort to ensure the female firefighters are involved, not discriminated against, and will help them if they struggle with skills.

Thanks for printing the article. I am sure it will be an eye opener for some.
— Susanna Schmitt Williams
Administrative Captain
Chapel Hill (N.C.) Fire Dept.

Author's reply: In the full version of our study, “A National Report Card on Women in Firefighting” (available at www.i-women.org), we found that compatibility between a fire career and family responsibilities was an important issue for some, but not all, women. Among firefighters responding to our nationwide survey, 39% of women and 68% of men reported having young children at some point during their fire careers. Some 84% of both groups reported that these children were cared for by a family member, and for many of them, firefighting's work shifts beneficially allowed them to spend more time with their children. For the other 16%, however, the combination of having young children and relying on paid childcare providers often substantially reduced respondents' satisfaction with their firefighting careers. Thus, the compatibility between being a parent and a firefighter is not exclusively a women's issue, and whether it is a plus or a minus depends on individuals' circumstances.

Playing Favorites

It is certain that women experience great discrimination in the fire service in many places, including much of society. Many firefighters and fire department agencies have evolved into higher level beings that recognize both women and men are capable of performing the job of a firefighter and have equal worth. Mr. Bendick's article touched on another real issue that I see, at least in the organizations that I have worked for, and that is favoritism. This is a form of discrimination that all genders, races and other protected or non-protected people are subject to. For example, when performance-based criteria is created to demonstrate that someone can perform a job according to outlined standards and duties, and regardless of where they finish on a list, behaviors limit the chances of them being promoted even when at the top.

Fire service managers might hide this behind some rule of numbers as opposed to promoting from a published list and in order. Perhaps the criteria is unclear and based on the feelings of those managers. If someone is not capable of doing a job, they should be rooted out during assessment centers or during probation, but only after proper due process and with mentoring focused on their success. Managers have a moral and legal responsibility to mentor and develop all their employees without discrimination and according to standards, not feelings. It is ironic that chiefs always preach moral and legal standards, yet many don't follow their own prophecies.

Another example is when people of any race, gender or other protected or non-protected people differ in personality and/or hobbies of others in the group and they are isolated from the group or not given the same mentoring or opportunity. The buddy system is favoritism, and favoritism is discrimination. Since “workplace discrimination' is against the law, does it include favoritism as a category?
— Lt. Jeannine Horton
Estero (Fla.) Fire Rescue

Author's reply: This letter raises a very important point. In many workplaces, discrimination against women employees might be based less on hostility specific to women than on a broader pattern of protecting the power and privilege of an “in group” against all “out groups.”

Women and race-ethnic minorities almost always end up in the out group, but so do many white males who aren't related to the right people, didn't serve in the right branch of the military, didn't go the right high school, or who don't enjoy playing the rights sports or spending off-duty time together. When a fire department gets serious about ensuring equal employment opportunity to all its employees, a key first step is to map out the fault lines separating those who are favored and disfavored in that department. That diagnosis, in turn, should help identify the changes that are needed, as well as the potential allies who would join women in benefiting from the changes.

Anti-discrimination laws generally do not address favoritism per se, but they generally make it illegal to the extent that the favoritism has a disparate impact adverse to groups (such as women and minorities) who are protected under anti-discrimination statutes. This disparate impact almost inevitably occurs but sometimes is hard to prove. Beyond the question of illegality, favoritism is extremely destructive to employee morale and teamwork, on which firefighting so importantly depends.