Abstract

Despite the potential for positive impacts resulting from a diverse workforce, fire departments across the country have struggled with the recruitment and hiring of minorities for decades, with women accounting for only 4.7% of its workforce (NFPA, 2020). Due in part to the limited diversity, the fire service tends to perpetuate the stereotypes of masculinity. There are three identified issues that are leading to the lack of female applicants in public safety positions, including the lack of diversity and inclusivity in Public Safety Organizations (PSOs), the absence of women in the role as firefighters, and the absence of recruitment strategies that have proven to be effective in attracting and motivating women to apply. This study determines if the communication being used to recruit women is perceived as effective and how information can be messaged to increase the number of female applicants in PSOs. This examination can be accomplished through the application of the IDEA Model (Sellnow & Sellnow, 2019) to explore what strategies impacting Internalization, Explanation, Distribution and Action are perceived by women prompting the action of seeking employment in PSOs.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Littlefield, Robert

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Nicholson School of Communication and Media

Degree Program

Strategic Communication

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009395; DP0027118

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0027118

Language

English

Release Date

December 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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Communication Commons

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