Gender Bias in Firefighter Promotion: Factors
When interpreting the outcomes of the test, one must focus on the values of p and the chi-square statistics. The given factors will help define whether the null hypothesis can be deemed as true or false. In the specified scenario, the absence of effects of gender on the promotion of firefighters is the null hypothesis.
Promotional Status and Gender
According to the test outcomes, the chi-test statistics result equals 3.6845, which can be deemed as very high. In other words, the outcome is much more than the statistical value in the specified example seeing that the test can be defined as one-factor.
The outcome listed above shows that the null hypothesis is not true.The fact that the p-value retrieved in the course of testing is higher than required shows that the alternative scenario, in which the female members of the staff are promoted, is unlikely to occur.
Although the p-value is very low and quite close to the value, at which the null hypothesis can be rejected, it will be safe to say that gender as an independent variable does not have a tangible effect on the outcomes of the promotion process (Salvendy, 2011).
Reasons for Justifying the Absence of Gender Bias
The results of the test carried out to check the workplace environment of the fire station for the existence of gender bias point quite graphically to the fact that the choices made by the organization’s manager are influenced by gender to a considerable extent.
Therefore, to prove that there is no gender bias in the company, one must justify the unreasonably high rates of male firefighters’ promotion as opposed to the small number of females’ promotion. The lack of the required skills and the absence of the necessary competencies can be used as factors that have influenced the current policy of the firefighter department.
For instance, the managers reporting on the outcomes of the test may justify the policy mentioned above by the fact that the female firefighters are less efficient in managing the tasks that they are required to, e.g., that they act at a lower speed, make wrong decisions more often, etc. In other words, to prove that the organization’s policy is not guided by a gender-profiling policy, the managers will have to explain the reasons for not promoting the female firefighters on a case-by-case basis.
Impact of Presence of Gender Bias in Promotions the Fire Department
Although every organization must comply with the principles of equity nowadays, the instances of discrimination based on specific characteristics of a part of the staff, such as gender, age, race, etc. still occur on a regular basis (Combs & Milosevic, 2014).
The effects of these prejudices are beyond deplorable; by promoting staff members based on their specific characteristics instead of the merits of their achievements, a company is likely to be labeled as progressing backward and abusing people’ irrefutable rights.
Consequently, the fire department is likely to face a range of legal issues up to the possibility of being used by the people, whose rights it abused. Moreover, the further progress of the gender bias in the given environment will trigger a drop in the efficacy of female firefighters along with a decrease in their motivation rates. Therefore, the fire department managers should reconsider the current promotion policy.
Reference List
Combs, G. M., & Milosevic, J. (2014). Workplace discrimination and the wellbeing of minority women: Overview, prospects, and implications. In M. L. Connerley & J. Wu (Eds.), Handbook on well- being of working women (pp. 17-32). Berlin: Springer.
Salvendy, G. (2011). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics. New York City, New York: John Wiley & Sons.