Discrimination in the workplace still exists. In a period of high unemployment, it is blacks (14.8%) and Hispanics (12.1%) who are laid off, outpacing that of whites (8.3%) and Asians (7.3%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the unemployment rate for women (7.3%) is actually lower than men (9.6%), it’s usually because employers are able to pay them less at 81 cents for every dollar that a man makes. The same issues of equality and lack of diversity affects the fire service.

Diversity is an absolute necessity for any public or private organization trying to be competitive in today’s multicultural world, said Jona Olsson, the founder and director of Cultural Bridges to Justice, a national training consortium founded in 1986, and fire chief of the Latir Volunteer Fire Department in Questa, N.M. In fact, an increase in equality and diversity can be beneficial to a company or organization’s profitability and is a crucial tool for sustained market success in a society with diverse ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomics, religions and generations.

“Corporate America has learned over the years that having a diverse work force increases their bottom line,” Olsson said. “The fire service has a different bottom line — that’s our mission — and I firmly believe diversifying our work force will strengthen our bottom line.”

In the past, U.S. communities often were mono-cultural. But times have changed and integration of cultures is more common in the communities fire departments serve, Olsson said. In addition, departments’ original mission of fighting fires has morphed into an all-hazards response, which means interacting with more of the public on different incidents.

“In the past, when just sticking to putting out fires, firefighters often didn’t interact with the public or need to be culturally sensitive,” she said. “But today, we are responding to more calls that interact more with the public, whether it is an EMS call or a car crash, or prevention and safety education. These calls call for more interpersonal skills and cultural competence.”

Departments need to reflect the diversity of society to best serve constituents and provide high-quality service, Olsson said.

“To stay relevant, we have to provide that high-level of quality service,” she emphasized. It also means crushing the cultural of intimidation when women, people of color, gay and transsexual, and other diverse personnel are added to a work force. The fire service is not alone in this area, but harassing someone who may be seen as a threat because of their background simply is a microcosm of the broader society, Olsson said

“If any group in society is not seen as valuable or capable, they are not going to be welcomed into the mono-cultural that exists,” she said.

Olsson has a strong belief that firefighters can't do their best if they are constantly second-guessed, doubted, tokenized or harassed because of their uniqueness. The result is staffers who are unable to perform at their best.

“Unfortunately that’s the experience of many women, people of color and firefighters that are lesbian, gay or transsexual in the fire service,” she said. “Every day they show up for work and [being unwelcomed] does not serve them and does not serve our fire service.”

Chiefs need to be flexible to navigate the diversity terrain because their job is to ensure every member can perform their best and be successful.

“That means we have to do our best to dismantle any barriers to full participation,” she said.

To learn more, listen to FIRE CHIEF’s recent podcast on diversity in the fire service.