Othering of Full-Time and Volunteer Women Firefighters in the Canadian Fire Services

Lynne Gouliquer; Carmen Poulin; Jennifer McWilliams

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.16.3.04

Authors

Lynne Gouliquer Laurentian University, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7535-6800
Carmen Poulin University of New Brunswick, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-3468
Jennifer McWilliams University of New Brunswick, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1436-8642

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.16.3.04

Keywords:

Othering, Marginalization, Women Firefighters, Canada, Psycho-Social Ethnography of the Commonplace (P-SEC)

Abstract

Being discriminated against because of factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and stature (i.e., height and weight) has been a common experience for women in traditionally men-dominated/identified occupations. Although women’s representation has risen in other men-dominated domains (Hughes 1995), within firefighting their presence remains extremely low in Canada (4.4% [Statistics Canada 2017]). Women firefighters mostly operate in a patriarchal context; they are often ignored, harassed, and treated poorly due to an intersectionality of factors (Paechter 1998). Thus far, most research has taken place in the US, UK, and AUS. In the present Pan-Canadian study, we examined the experiences of volunteer and career women firefighters (N=113). The Psycho-Social Ethnography of the Commonplace methodology (P-SEC [Gouliquer and Poulin 2005]) was used. With this approach, we identified several practices, both formal and informal (e.g., physical and academic standards, gender roles), which resulted in women feeling the effect of the intersection of gender and firefighting. Results indicated that women firefighters experience “Othering” manifesting itself in a variety of ways such as discrimination, hostility, and self-doubt. This paper focuses on Canadia women firefighters and ends with social change and policy recommendations to better their reality.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Acker, Joan. 1990. “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations.” Gender & Society 4(2):139-158.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002002

Adams, Kacey. 2001. Women in Senior Police Management (Report series, no. 138.2). Payneham: Australasian Centre for Policing Research.
Google Scholar

Ainsworth, Susan, Alex Batty, and Rosaria Burchielli. 2014. “Women Constructing Masculinity in Voluntary Firefighting.” Gender, Work and Organization 21(1):37-56.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12010

Bailyn, Lotte. 2006. Breaking the Mold: Redesigning Work for Productive and Satisfying Lives. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Google Scholar

Bannerji, Himani. 2000. The Dark Side of the Nation: Essays on Multiculturalism, Nationalism, and Gender. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Google Scholar

Batty, Alex and Rosaria Burchielli. 2011. “Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire? Persistent Gender Barriers in Australian Fire-Fighting and Challenges for HRM.” Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 49(3):308-324.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1038411110391704

Beals, Diane E. 1998. “Reappropriating Schema: Conceptions of Development from Bartlett and Bakhtin.” Mind, Culture, and Activity 51:3-24.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca0501_2

Beatson, Ruth and Jim McLennan. 2005. “Australia’s Women Volunteer Firefighters: A Literature Review and Research Agenda.” Australian Journal on Volunteering 2:18-27.
Google Scholar

Bem, Sandra L. 1983. “Gender Schema Theory and Its Implications for Child Development: Raising Gender-Aschematic Children in a Gender-Schematic Society.” Signs 8:598-616.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/493998

Bem, Sandra L. 1993. The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Google Scholar

Bendl, Regine. 2008. “Gender Subtexts – Reproduction of Exclusion in Organizational Discourse.” British Journal of Management 19(1):S50-S64.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00571.x

Bleijenbergh, Inge E., Marloes van Engen, and Claartje Vinkenburg. 2011. “Othering Women: Fluid Images of the Ideal Academic.” Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal 32(1):22-35.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02610151311305597

Bransford, John D. and Marcia Johnston. 1972. “Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding: Some Investigations of Comprehension and Recall.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour 11:717-726.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80006-9

Brewer, William F. and James Treyens. 1981. “Role of Schema in Memory for Places.” Cognitive Psychology 13:207-230.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(81)90008-6

Broome, Rodger E. 2012. “The Psychology of ‘Othering’ and the Fears of Feminizing the Fire Services through Gender Inclusiveness.” iWomen’s Member Newsletter 1(45):7-9.
Google Scholar

Burdett, Freda. 2017. When Practices Embody Sexism: The Experience of Ontario Women Correctional Officers. Doctoral Dissertation. Retrieved June 19, 2020 file:///C:/Users/kamma/Downloads/Dissertation%20F.%20Burdett%20September%20 2017.pdf
Google Scholar

Carby, Hazel. 1997. “On the Threshold of Woman’s Era: Lynching, Empire, and Sexuality in Black Feminist Theory.” Pp. 330343 in Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation, and Postcolonial Per spectives, edited by A. McClintock, A. Mufti, and E. Shohat. Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.
Google Scholar

Chetkovich, Carol A. 1997. Real Heat: Gender and Race in the Urban ire Service. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Google Scholar

Connell, Raewyn. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Google Scholar

Craig, Jane M. and Rick Jacobs. 1985. “The Effect of Working with Women on Male Attitudes toward Female Firefighters.” Basic and Applied Social Psychology 6(1):61-74.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp0601_5

Culp, Jerome. 1994. “Colorblind Remedies and the Intersectionality of Oppression: Policy Arguments Masquerading as Moral Claims.” New York University Law Review 69(1):162-196.
Google Scholar

Einarsen, Ståle, Bjrn Raknes, and Stig Matthiesen. 1994. “Bullying and Harassment at Work and Their Relationships to Work Environment Quality: An Exploratory Study.” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 4(4):381-401.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13594329408410497

Flynn, Kevin. 2000. “Despite Recruiting, few Women Do Well in Firefighter Tests.” New York Times, B-1, February 03.
Google Scholar

Forsyth, Craig J. and Rhonda D. Evans. 2003. “Reconsidering the Pseudo-Family/Gang Gender Distinction in Prison Research.” Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 18:15-23.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02802604

Garnham, Alan. 1981. “Mental Models as Representations of Text.” Memory and Cognition 9:560-565.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202350

Garro, Linda C. 2000. “Remembering What One Knows and the Construction of the Past: A Comparison of Cultural Consensus Theory and Cultural Schema Theory.” Ethos 28(3):275-319.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/eth.2000.28.3.275

Gates, Gary J. 2011. How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender? Los Angeles: The Williams Institute.
Google Scholar

Gingrich, Andre. 2004. “Conceptualizing Identities.” Pp. 3-17 in Grammars of Identity/Alterity –A Structural Approach, G. Bauman and A. Gingrich. Oxford: BergHahn Press.
Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1960. “Characteristics of Total Institutions.” Pp. 449-479 in Identity and Anxiety: Survival of the Person in Mass Society, edited by M. R. Stein, A. J. Vidich, and D. M. White. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Google Scholar

Gouliquer, Lynne. 2011. Soldiering in the Canadian Forces: How and Why Gender Counts! Doctoral Dissertation, McGill University, Canada. Retrieved June 19, 2020 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/QMM/TC-QMM-96779.pdf
Google Scholar

Gouliquer, Lynne and Carmen Poulin. 2005. “For Better and for Worse: Psychological Demands and Structural Impacts on Gay Servicewomen in the Military and Their Long-Term Partners.” Pp. 323-335 in Doing Ethnography: Studying Everyday Life, edited by D. Pawluch, W. Shaffir, and C. Miall. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
Google Scholar

Greenberg, Amy. 1998. Cause for Alarm: The Volunteer Fire Department in the Nineteenth Century City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400864928

Griffith, John C. et al. 2015. “Replication of the 2008 Report Card Women in Firefighting.” Journal of American Academy of Business 21(1):26-32.
Google Scholar

Harding, Sandra. 1987. Feminism and Methodology. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Google Scholar

Haynes, Hylton J. G. and Gary Stein. 2016. “U.S. Fire Department Profile – 2014.” National Fire Protection Association 1-16.
Google Scholar

Holland, D. 1985. “From Situation to Impression: How Americans Get to Know Themselves and One Another.” Pp. 389-411 in Directions in Cognitive Anthropology, edited by J. Dougherty. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Google Scholar

hooks, bell. 2000. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Google Scholar

Hudson, Heidi and Henning Melber. 2014. “Contextualising African Identities, Othering and the Politics of Space.” African Insight 44(1):1-6.
Google Scholar

Hughes, Karen D. 1995. “Women in Non-Traditional Occupations.” Perspectives on Labour and Income, Statistics Canada, Catalogue 75-001E 14-19.
Google Scholar

Hulett, Denise M. et al. 2008a. “Enhancing Women’s Inclusion in Firefighting in the USA. The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities & Nations 8(2):189-207.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9532/CGP/v08i02/39562

Hulett, Denise M. et al. 2008b. A National Report Card on Women in Firefighting. Madison, WI: International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services.
Google Scholar

Jahnke, Sara A. et al. 2012. “The Health of Women in the US ire Services.” BMC Women’s Health 12(39):1-12.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-12-39

Jensen, Sune Q. 2011. “Othering, Identity Formation and Agency.” Qualitative Studies 2(2):63-78.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v2i2.5510

Jones, Kristen P. et al. 2016. “Not So Subtle: A Meta-Analysis of the Correlates of Subtle and Overt Discrimination.” Journal of Management 42:1588-1613.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313506466

Jones, Kristen P. et al. 2017. “Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace: A Vicious Cycle.” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 10(1):51-76.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2016.91

Judd, Patricia C. and Patricia Oswald. 1997. “Employment Desirability: The Interactive Effects of Gender-Typed Pro file, Stimulus Sex, and Gender-Typed Occupation.” Sex Roles 37(7/8):467-476.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025669801166

Klassen, Thomas R. and C. T. Gillin. 2005. “Legalized Age Discrimination.” Journal of Law and Social Policy 20:35-51.
Google Scholar

Lewis, Suzan. 1997. “‘Family Friendly’ Employment Policies: A Route to Changing Organizational Culture or Playing about at the Margins?” Gender, Work and Organization 4(1):13-23.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0432.00020

Lister, Ruth. 2004. Poverty. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Google Scholar

Markus, Hazel. 1977. “Self-Schemata and Processing Information about the Self.” Personality and Social Psychology 35(2):63-78.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.35.2.63

Martin, Susan E. 1990. On the Move: The State of Women in Policing. Washington: Policy Foundation.
Google Scholar

McLennan, Jim and Adrian Birch. 2006. “Survey of South Australian Country Fire Service Women Volunteers: South Australian Country Fire Service Report Number 2006: 1. Bushfire CRC Enhancing Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Project (D3).” Australian Journal of Volunteering 11(2). Retrieved June 19, 2020 https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;d-n=323542320140550;res=IELHSS
Google Scholar

Paechter, Carrie. 1998. Educating the Other: Gender, Power and Schooling. London: Falmer Press.
Google Scholar

Paragg, Jillian. 2015. “‘Canadian-First’: Mixed Race Self-Identification and Canadian Belonging.” Canadian Ethnic Studies 47(2):21-44.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2015.0017

Perrott, Tamika. 2016. “Beyond ‘Token’ Firefighters: Exploring Women’s Experiences of Gender and Identity at Work.” Sociological Research Online 21(1):1-14.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3832

Pettigrew, Thomas F. and Roel Meertens. 1995. “Subtle and Blatant Prejudice in Western Europe.” European Journal of Social Psychology 25(1):57-75.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420250106

Poulin, Carmen and Lynne Gouliquer. 2012. “A Feminist Interdisciplinary Methodology: The Psycho-Social Ethnography of the Commonplace (P-SEC).” Non-published manuscript.
Google Scholar

Poulin, Carmen, Lynne Gouliquer, and Alissa Moore. 2018. “Pompiers: La passion du feu et le prix à payer.” Pp. 209-249 in Enjeux humains et psychosociaux du travail, edited by J. Douesnard. Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10qqxbw.13

Rapoport, Rhona et al. 2002. Beyond Work-Family Balance. Advancing Gender Equity and Workplace Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Google Scholar

Riach, Kathleen. 2007. “‘Othering’ Older Worker Identity in Recruitment.” Human Relations 60(11):1701-1726.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726707084305

Riggins, Stephen H. 1997. “The Rhetoric of Othering.” In The Language and Politics of Exclusion – Others in Discourse, edited by S. H. Riggins. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Press.
Google Scholar

Rumelhart, David. 1980. “Schemata: The Building Blocks of Cognition.” Pp. 33-58 in Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension: Perspectives from Cognitive Psychology, Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, and Education, edited by R. J. Spiro, B. C. Bruce, and W. F. Brewer. Newark, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315107493-4

Saguy, Abigail C. 2000. “Employment Discrimination or Sexual Violence? Defining Sexual Harassment in American and French Law.” Law & Society Review 34(4):1091-1128.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3115132

Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Google Scholar

Sheppard, Coleen. 2001. “Of Forest Fires and Systematic Discrimination: A Review of British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. B.C.G.S.E.U.” McGill Law Journal/Revue De Droit De McGill 46:533-562.
Google Scholar

Shuster, Melissa P. 2000. “The Physical and Psychological Stresses of Women in Firefighting.” Work 15(1):77-82.
Google Scholar

Sinden, Katryn et al. 2013. “A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Female Firefighters.” Work 45:97-105.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-121549

Smith, Dorothy E. 1987. The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Google Scholar

Smith, Dorothy E. 2005. Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Google Scholar

Staszak, Jean-François. 2008. “Other/Otherness.” International Encyclopedia of Human Geography 1-7.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00980-9

Statistics Canada. 2017. “Occupation—National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2016 (693A), Highest Certificate, Diploma or Degree (15), Labour Force Status (3), Age (13A) and Sex (3) for the Labour Force Aged 15 Years and Over in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census—25% Sample Data. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016295. Retrieved June 19, 2020 http://www.statcan.gc.ca
Google Scholar

Tsouroufli, Maria, Mustafa Ozbilgin, and M. Smith. 2011. “Gendered Forms of Othering in UK Hospital Medicine.” Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal 30(6):498-509.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02610151111157710

Van Laer, Koen and Maddy Janssens. 2011. “Ethnic Minority Professionals’ Experiences with Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace.” Human Relations 64: 1203-1227.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711409263

Walker, Nefretiti A. and Trevor Bopp. 2010-2011. “The Underrepresentation of Women in the Male-Dominated Sport Workplace: Perspectives of Female Coaches.” Journal of Workplace Rights 15(1):47-64.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2190/WR.15.1.d

Wang, Shih-Yung and Brian Kleiner. 2001. “Sex Discrimination in Fire Fighting Organizations.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 21(8/9):175-183.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330110789934

Weiner, Gaby. 1994. Feminisms in Education: An Introduction. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Google Scholar

Wright, Tessa. 2008. “Lesbian Firefighters: Shifting the Boundaries between ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Femininity.’” Journal of Lesbian Studies 12:103-114.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/10894160802174375

Wright, Tessa. 2011. “A ‘lesbian advantage?’ Analyzing the Intersections of Gender, Sexuality and Class in Male-Dominated Work.” Equality Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 30(8):686-701.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02610151111183207

Wright, Tessa. 2016. “Women’s Experience of Workplace Interactions in Male-Dominated Work: The Intersections of Gender, Sexuality and Occupational Group.” Gender, Work & Organization 23(3):348-362.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12074

Yarnel, Careen M. and Lorraine Dowler. 2002. “Who Is Answering the Call? Volunteer Firefighting as Serious Leisure.” Leisure/Loisir 27(3-4):161-189.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2002.9651302

Yoder, Janice and Patricia Aniakudo. 1996. “When Pranks Become Harassment: The Case of African American Women Firefighters.” Sex Roles 35(5/6):253-270.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01664768

Yoder, Janice and Patricia Aniakudo. 1997. “‘Outsider Within’ the Firehouse: Subordination and Difference in the Social Interactions of African American Women Firefighters.” Gender & Society 11(3):324-341.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124397011003004

Yoder, Janice and Patricia Aniakudo. 2001. “The Responses of African American Women Firefighters to Gender Harassment at Work.” Sex Roles 32(3/4):125-137.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544784

Yoder, Janice and Lynne Berendsen. 2001. “‘Outside Within’ the Firehouse: African American and White Women Firefighters.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 25:27-36.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.00004

Yoder, Janice and Theodore McDonald. 1998. “Measuring Sexist Discrimination in the Workplace: Support for the Validity of the Schedule of Sexist Events.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 22:487-491.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00170.x

Zimmer, Lynn. 1988. “Tokenism and Women in the Workplace: The Limits of Gender-Neutral Theory.” Social Problems 35(1):64-77.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/800667