Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
Volume 27, Issue 11, Pages 715-726Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/WF17150
Keywords
action research; Canada; social justice; workplace culture
Categories
Funding
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Australian Research Council [DE150100242, DP170100096]
- Thoughtexchange(TM)
- Stihl Proline
- Wajax
- Australian Research Council [DE150100242] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
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This article examines findings from a 2016 study on gender and leadership within the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS), Canada. The study utilised action research to facilitate an in-depth conversation among wildland firefighters about gender and leadership, and to explore participant-derived actions steps within the BCWS towards a perceived ideal future(s). The study found widespread occurrences of gender discrimination in the day-to-day practice of leadership, and that gender made a difference for wildland firefighters' experiences of normative workplace culture. In their practice of leadership, participants described a trade-off between gender diversity and excellence. The article concludes that the practice of leadership within wildland fire must include open dialogue about, and strategic engagement with, gendered cultural norms within the workplace in order to dispel myths and latent beliefs, and support what firefighters in this study defined as 'excellent leadership'.
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