Public Service BA (Hons) and FdA Lecturers, Dr Dave Baigent and Sarah O'Connor have been invited by the Swedish government to present to the general assembly at their forthcoming Fire2010 conference on the subject of "fitting-in" and "why firefighters' culture resists women."

The invitation results from on-going consultancy work with the Swedish Fire service, which began when Dave and Sarah visited the country in April 2009 to provide an overview on the UK Fire and Rescue Service's employment of women as front-line firefighters. They were greatly surprised to find Sweden, seemingly a leading force for equality in Europe, was so far behind in this area with very few women firefighters. Even more surprising was that the Stockholm Fire Service, the largest in Sweden, did not employ a single woman as a firefighter. Working closely with firefighters, Dave and Sarah investigated issues of masculinity and challenged gender stereotypes.

The results of their work in Sweden contributed to the Government's 'Programme of action for increased equality and diversity in municipal safety work: for the period 2009 to 2014' and a successful bid by Luleå University for the four year project they have called "Gender and rescue service."

Dave and Sarah are looking forward to the conference in May 2010 and seeing how their input contributes to increased equality in the Swedish Fire service.

For more information about the Fire2010 conference please contact Dave Baigent.

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