The Prevalence and Health Impacts of Frequent Work Discrimination and Harassment among Women Firefighters in the US Fire Service

Abstract

Intro. Both discrimination and harassment directly impact mental and physical health. Further, workplace discrimination degrades workplace culture and negatively impacts health behaviors, job-related outcomes, and family dynamics. Women represent a small proportion of the fire service and are often the targets of discrimination/harassment, yet little research documents the impact of such experiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between chronic work discrimination and/or harassment and women firefighters’ (FFs) physical and mental health, substance abuse, and job efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Methods. Snowball sampling was used to solicit participation from women career FFs. Participants completed an online survey regarding physical and mental health, health behavior, job efficacy/stress/satisfaction, and family well-being. Logistic regression examined the impact of work discrimination-harassment severity on dichotomous variables. Results. 1,773 had complete data on their experiences with work-related discrimination and harassment. Women reported experiencing verbal (37.5%) and written (12.9%) harassment, hazing (16.9%), sexual advances (37.4%), and assaults (5.1%) in the fire service. FFs in the highest tertile of work discrimination-harassment severity reported over 40% more poor health days in the last 30 days (OR=1.42; 95%CI=1.33-1.51; p<0.001). Women who experienced moderate and severe discrimination/harassment had negative mental health outcomes including higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Those who experienced high rates of discrimination and/or harassment also were more likely to report issues with alcohol consumption. Conclusion. The impact of discrimination and harassment, related negative physical and mental outcomes, low levels of job satisfaction, and negative impact of these experiences on family/home stress likely take a significant toll on women in the fire service. Findings confirm and extend previous work suggesting there is a need to improve the mental and physical health of women FFs. Future work should examine the prospective relationship between discrimination/harassment and poor health outcomes and potential policies/practices to reduce these negative behaviors.

Generational conflict, alcohol use and brotherhood: an exploratory survey of a rural career fire department in the Midwest

“…As stated in the beginning, the majority of career fire departments are not in rural settings in the United States, meaning that the results found here may not reflect the majority of career firefighters in the country but do tap into a unique population of nonurban/suburban fire departments. However, we feel that much like there is value in studying women in the fire service despite them making up approximately 3-5% of the workforce (Jahnke et al, 2019), there is benefit to the field by studying rural career firefighters. It adds to the richness of the literature in the field.…”

Effects of Social Support on the Stress-Health Relationship: Gender Comparison among Military Personnel

“…We suggest that strengthening workplace health and safety, reducing discrimination and harassment, and enhancing fairness, trust and organizational justice through military units, are likely to help female personnel to have sound minds and bodies. Especially, the regulation and procedures for handling sexual harassment has been strictly enforced since 2016 to decrease the cases of sexual harassment or assault [77], and to provide female military personnel a secured workplace [78]. The implementation of this study could provide some insights on the role of gender in male-dominated organizations, such as the military sector in Taiwan and other countries, and some cross-cultural/national research on a well-developed topic based on existing previous literature.…”

“I’ve Got Your Six”: The Importance of Peer Support to Women Working in Non-Traditional Roles

“…Finding the balance between the societal expectations of being a woman and being effective at work has proven challenging for these women (Barth et al, 2015), as society expects that women choose roles that allow them to be clean and delicate (Eden, 1992) and not to pursue physically demanding roles that require them to get dirty and physical at work (Miller, 2004), such as in mechanics, construction, and the oil industry. When women break this traditional mold, they can find themselves on the receiving end of ill treatment from both society and the workplace (Leskinen et al, 2015), which can result in adverse psychological and physiological impacts on the recipient (Jahnke et al, 2019;Szabo et al, 2012).…”

“…Although choosing to adapt may serve only to reinforce the deep gender divide already prevalent in domains like the oil industry, it is what many women in this and similar industries must do, simply to maintain their jobs. However, these altered behaviours can contribute to workplace stressors felt by women working in nontraditional roles (Jahnke et al, 2019;Miller, 2004). With the frequency with which these stressors are experienced by women in non-traditional roles, it is not surprising that they would feel heightened job stress, resulting in both physical and psychological strain.…”

“…Acute stressors include a single incident of harassment, being "called out" or belittled in front of peers or being overlooked for a deserved reward or promotion. Whether chronic or acute, these stressors are frequently experienced by women who work in non-traditional roles, resulting in elevated stress levels among the female workers (Beaton et al, 2015;Jahnke et al, 2019).…”