Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced last Tuesday that he’ll seek to establish a Cadet Program for the Boston Fire Department, in order to recruit and train more women as active firefighters in the Department. The proposal, which seeks to underscore the need to curb a national trend of under-representation of women in fire suppression services, will be formally filed with the Massachusetts Legislature in the coming weeks, as part of his overall legislative package.
“It’s incredibly important that our workplaces in the City of Boston are inclusive and diverse, and are safe and welcoming to all. I thank Attorney Kay Hodge and her team for their diligence in conducting this review that will serve as an opportunity for us to double down on our efforts to recruit those who we have not reached before, make changes where they are needed, and provide every opportunity we can to involve women and men in good, lifelong careers with the Boston Fire Department.”
—Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
An external report —commissioned by Mayor Walsh from the law firm Stoneman, Chandler and Miller— was conducted in order to examine the current culture and environment for female firefighters at the Boston Fire Department, following allegations of discrimination. In its147 pages, the report concluded there was a need for the Department to hire more women, while addressing the significant changes made to address the longstanding male-dominated culture of the Department. It’s from the recommendations from this report that the proposal to recruit more women was made; meanwhile, among the newest recruit class of 54 individuals sworn in last week, more than one third were people of color, including seven Asian, seven Hispanic and six Black individuals, making it one of the most diverse classes since 2004 despite having only one female among the group (the Department’s first Asian American female).
“There is nothing more important to me than the health, safety and well-being of Boston’s firefighters, which is why I’m proud of all the work we’ve been able to accomplish over the last several years. This report makes clear that we have more work to do, and now more than ever I am committed to driving this needed change of embracing a culture of inclusion that will reach every corner of every firehouse.”
—Fire Chief Department Joseph Finn.
Aside from new recruiting practices, over the last years and under the Walsh administration many operational changes have been made in the Department’s firehouses to improve the workplace conditions for female firefighters, such as including strengthening policies around designation of women-only bathrooms in firehouses with permanently assigned female firefighters, installing exterior combination locks on outside doors of women’s bathrooms, improving the privacy of the sleeping quarters by creating permanent seven-foot walls between bunks with sliding doors and internal locks, and conducting extensive training for all deputy chiefs and captains regarding issues of respectful workplaces.
“As the female liaison for the Boston Fire Department, it is my responsibility to make sure that the voices of our female population are heard and represented, and that they feel supported at work. We’ve already made improvements within the past 6 months to several issues of concern to our female firefighters, such as updating the bathroom policy and addressing uniform issues. We have increased our recruitment and outreach efforts to female candidates, and will continue to do so. I am excited for this intentional focus on bringing more women to the force.”
—Firefighter Margaret Connolly, Boston Fire Department’s female liaison.
