This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research program. The research will examine the occupational culture of municipal firefighters and the relationship of that culture to racial, ethnic and gender diversity in the workforce. The investigators will employ a range of qualitative techniques of data collection, notably interviews and participant observation, in a number of branches of the fire department in Oakland, California. The study will focus on the aspects of occupational culture that resist the influx of workers from previously excluded minority groups and on variations in the process of occupational socialization that may reflect the race, ethnicity or gender of the newcomer. This research will contribute to the sociology of occupations, race and ethnic relations, and gender, as well as increasing the knowledge base for municipal and national policies concerning occupational integration of minority groups and women. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to future scientific manpower and the thorough training of the next generation of sociologists.
