Real heat
Subtitle: gender and race in the urban fire service
By: Carol Chetkovich.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New Brunswick, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
Subjects: Women fire fighters -- California -- Oakland; African American fire fighters -- California -- Oakland; Fire departments -- California -- Oakland -- Officials and employees; Sex discrimination against women -- California -- Oakland; Race discrimination -- California -- Oakland
Description: In the struggle over affirmative action, no employment setting has seen more friction than urban fire departments. Thirty years of legal and political efforts have opened the doors of this historically white male preserve, but men of color have yet to consolidate their gains, and women's progress has been even more tenuous. In this unique and compelling account of affirmative action at the "street level," Carol Chetkovich explores the ways in which this program has succeeded and failed.

Chetkovich follows the men and women of the Oakland Fire Department Class 1-91 through their academy training and eighteen-month probation. Real Heat explores how the process of becoming a firefighter interacts with the dimensions of race and gender to support some and discourage others.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-236) and index.