Firefighter's research into workplace gender disparities earns prestigious Kate Sheppard Award

Originally from Canada, Leanne moved to New Zealand in 2013 and has spent more than a decade working as an operational firefighter in both countries. Her frontline experience has inspired a research project through the School of People, Environment and Planning that explores why women remain underrepresented in career firefighting.

The Kate Sheppard Memorial Award recognises women undertaking postgraduate study, research or special projects that contribute to communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Leanne says her interest in the topic stemmed from years of hearing familiar explanations for the lack of women in firefighting.

"I repeatedly heard that women simply weren't applying, or that women weren't strong enough to pass the physical testing. But those explanations left me with more questions than answers," Leanne says.

Her master's research focuses on physical employment standards in Australasian fire services, examining how those standards were developed, whether gendered assumptions remain embedded within them and how organisational policies may either reinforce or challenge those assumptions.

"I've always wondered why there weren't more women in these roles.

"I started questioning who decides what physical capability looks like in a firefighter, what evidence those decisions are based on and whether workplace systems themselves may be contributing to underrepresentation."

The research also investigates the gap between public commitments to diversity and inclusion and the reality of workplace practices.

Leanne says her findings to date suggest the issue is far more complex than commonly held assumptions about women's capability or willingness to pursue careers in male-dominated fields.

"The research is starting to reveal that a whole host of complex historical, institutional and structural factors are at play," Leanne explains.

"It makes me want to keep asking what we have built into these systems and what happens when we stop assuming that the problem is women."

Leanne hopes her work will contribute to more inclusive recruitment processes, more thoughtful approaches to physical employment standards and, ultimately, greater representation of women in operational roles.

Receiving the Kate Sheppard Memorial Award was a significant moment.

"Absolute elation," Leanne says.

"To have my name even mentioned in the same breath as Kate Sheppard is such a massive honour. I'm incredibly proud of the research, but I'm also very conscious of the women who have done this work before me and made it possible for women like me not only to be undertaking postgraduate research today, but even to be a firefighter."

The award has further strengthened Leanne's commitment to continuing her research, with plans to pursue doctoral study and contribute to conversations around gender, physical employment standards and organisational culture.

"I hope the research encourages organisations to think differently about inclusion.

"It’s not simply about getting more women through the door, but about examining whether the door, and the pathway to it, has been designed with everyone in mind."

Leanne believes the research has the potential to influence policy and organisational decision-making while helping women better understand their experiences in male-dominated professions.

"If my research can help shift the conversation away from 'what is wrong with her?' towards 'what is happening here?', then I think it will have achieved something important."