Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC

Gendered communication and public safety: Women, men and incident management

Title	Gendered communication and public safety: Women, men and incident management
Publication Type	Journal Article
Year of Publication	2013
Authors	Owen, C
Journal	Australian Journal of Emergency Management, The
Volume	28
Issue	2
Start Page	3
Pagination	3-10
Date Published	04/2013
ISSN	1324-1540
Keywords	Ability Testing, Emergency management, Evaluation, Psychological aspects, Public safety, Public speaking, Social conditions, Women
Abstract	Managing emergency events requires incident management teams to actively pool their ideas and concerns to resolve challenges, although this frequently does not occur. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods, this paper explores whether gender may be an underlying factor. The quantitative findings indicate that women report different experiences of communication in incident management teams. In seeking to provide an account as to why this might be the case 24 qualitative interviews with incident management team members were examined. The findings reveal cultural challenges to team communication and specifically a masculinist culture (i.e. acting with high confidence and bravado). The legitimacy of these displays is contested by both men and women because of their negative impacts on team communication and co-operation. Strategies for overcoming the negative impacts of masculinist cultures and the role of leadership and training are discussed.
URL	http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=364034915486329;res=IELHSS