Making U.S. Fire Departments More Diverse and Inclusive

Harvard Business Review ^ | 12/07/18

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

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. 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.”

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.

[Secret Agent Man]

There is no problem other than liberal pc interpretation of things.

[faithhopecharity]

Harvard needs cancellation of its public funding grants and subsidies contracts. Such research ( sic) is not only racist it’s ridiculous— and the fire department has tons of diversity already anyway. Who thinks these wasteful and divisive racialist b s projects up, anyway?

[OregonRancher]

As my wife said when the SF fire department went gay 25 years ago: “ I want the biggest, baddest, meanest MF’er coming up that ladder to help me!”

[TheZMan]

“It helps us address the needs of the public better”

BS. How?

[Midwesterner53]

Women are too weak to carry heavy equipment in fire stations and at fires just like they are too weak to carry heavy equipment on the battlefield and wrestle big men in police work. No matter. Get them in uniform and if they die or others die because of them, its the price of doing business. Too bad family of the deceased, at least we had diversity!!!

[Midwesterner53]

Exactly.

[Still Thinking]

96% of U.S. career firefighters are men, and 82% are white.

And?? I bet not more than 4% of women could pass the physical part of the exam, if it's not dumbed down, and the population in general is probably 82% white (assuming hispanics are counted as white). So what's the problem?

Secondly, even if there WERE a racial discrepancy, I say we don't worry about it unless and until these hypocrites are also agitating to "correct" the racial imbalance in the NBA and other pro sports. Seems disparity is only a problem when whites (or men) are the ones over-represented. Suck on it.

[Still Thinking]

[Da Coyote]

N years ago (where N is a large number), we actually thought Harvard had smart folks contained within.

[Redcitizen]

I can just see a male homeowner having to rescue a female firefighter cuz she couldn’t meet the challenge of a house fire.

[Freedom4US]

“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.”

That’s pretty goddamn offensive when you get right down to it. There are probably a half dozen unstated yet clearly implied assertions in that sentence right there, none of them good. What an asshole.

[Chode]

OK, we have an ALL volunteer FD... what they gonna do, ship in minorities and MAKE then join?

[Freedom4US]

“Seems disparity is only a problem when whites (or men) are the ones over-represented.”

Notice they make a big huge stink about the male/female makeup of the Board of Directors and CEOs of large corporations.

Construction crews, ditch diggers, plumbers, all the crappy hard work or dirty jobs, eh, usually not so much. As far as the military is concerned, a reasonable compromise before upending the line units, might be to see how females fare on say, the Army football team. They should make a good linebacker right?

[Freedom4US]

Shh!! Don’t get in the way of the narrative H8er

[Chode]

yeah, what WAS i thinking?

[Jim Noble]

“Making U.S. Fire Departments More Diverse and Inclusive”

Why?

[RainMan]

In high school, my son told me he wanted to become a fireman, and I supported the decision. We decided the best way to go about it was to focus his HS classes on things that would help him in that regard, including NJROTC and Sports Medicine (to give him some early training towards becoming an EMT if he chose to go that route). I went in with him and helped negotiate his enlistment, which included assuring that he would become an ABH = a fireman on an Aircraft Carrier.

He spent a decade in the USN as an ABH on a carrier. Over the course of his 10 year career in the Navy, he regularly scored in the top 1% on exams, but was passed over for promotion time and again for less qualified sailors who had diversity bonus points. Amazingly, his superiors were also diversity hires, and they showed diversity sailors a LOT of preference. He decided to leave the Navy this last Spring. The thing is, had he gotten the promotions that he had earned then denied because of diversity, he might have stuck it out and stayed in long enough to retire. Most of those who were promoted over him would leave shortly after their promotions, because they did not choose to become an ABH, they were assigned to it. Diversity did not help retain those who did not want to do it in the first place, and it cost them my son, who focused his life around doing it.

My son is now a fireman stateside.

[suthener]

“One point about the life of a firefighter. We live together for 24 or 48 hours at a time.”

You think that’s bad, think about the military. We didn’t do that for 24 or 48 hours, we did it that many weeks, and that’s just counting deployments.

[FlingWingFlyer]

The jugheads at Hahvid are into fighting fires now? When did that happen?

[silverleaf]

Or house on fire
Crew of burka clad muslim women and a 5’3” 130 pound trans “ man” arrive

What could go wrong