A Qualitative Study on the Emotional Labor Experience and Response of Female Fire Officials

Abstract

This is a phenomenological study in which seven female firefighters, who experienced emotional labor while performing public services like accident investigation and rescue, were interviewed about their difficulties, psychology and coping, and desires for institutional improvement due to emotional labor and violence during work. This study derived two categories, four theme clusters, and the following ten themes: “An emotional trash can that is required to be unconditionally kind,” “Violence and profanity from citizens flying out of nowhere,” “Female firefighters are seen as weak and unworthy,” “Female firefighters face discrimination even within the organization,” “Doubt and frustration about my job,” “Repeated anxiety and fear,” “My way of shaking off emotional labor” “Emotional labor coping system established within the organization,” “Slowly but surely changing atmosphere within the organization,” and “The beginning of a step toward a better environment.” This study’s findings provide several clinical, policy, and practical implications for creating safe working environments for women firefighters.