One of the things we do on this blog is help journalists find information.. I had a request..
Here’s an article from Outside Magazine:
But firefighting is still a men’s club, and for many women in the trenches, little has changed. Women make up 39 percent of the Forest Service’s workforce, but hold just 11 percent of permanent wildfire jobs. In other agencies that fight fire—the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—the figure is as low as 6 percent. Even the U.S. military has done a better job of recruiting and retaining women.
What is a current source for data from the Interior Agencies number of women in firefighting? Answers can be posted here or sent to my email. As an aside, I wonder what are similar numbers with state agencies, including CalFire?
Also, are there figures on temporary employees compared to permanent employees?
Thanks, all!
National Park Service is down to 3 women Fire Management Officers. There is a need to identify the total number of parks which hire FMOs to determine percentage of women to men in FMO jobs.
In 2006 there were 4 women Park FMOs in the Pacific West Region (CA, OR, WA, NV, HI) we are down to 1.
I believe the number of women in operational/program decision making roles in our Regional and National offices to be even lower.
As for the seasonal staff our local numbers are a bit higher – sometimes 1/3rd women on handcrews and up to half women on Helitack crews.
Perm Leadership positions are predominantly held by men. Would need to explore the challenges of entering first perm positions and what can/should be done to help balance gender representation in mid and upper management positions.
Age old issues: recruitment, retention, networking, limited opportunities for advancement to higher level positions within a 30 year career.
Thanks, Kelly!