Women in Public Safety are More Valued, but There is Still Work to Do

In this installment in our Women in Public Safety series, MCP Insights chats with Dana Wahlberg, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Emergency Communications Networks (ECN) division. Wahlberg shares her insights regarding how to survive and ultimately thrive in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Wahlberg: In a small 911 center in northern Minnesota. I was the lone female on a crew of three.  I typically answered 911 lines because my male counterparts hated working phones—one was the law-enforcement dispatcher and the other was the fire/EMS dispatcher. The entire community was male-dominated, largely because it was a mining town where the largest taconite mine in the world resided. Workers there were primarily male, and the steelworker’s union was strong and loud.

Insights: What sorts of biases did you encounter?

Wahlberg: My capabilities were not recognized when I was first assigned to their crew. The two males overstepped me a lot. The call-taker was expected to manage all three 911 trunks, unless you were on a “hot” call—then one of the dispatchers would handle any calls that came in on the other two lines. But if I was handling a call, let’s say even a simple parking complaint, and one of the other lines rang, one of them immediately would jump in to answer it. For a long time I wondered whether they were overstepping because I was new and inexperienced and they thought I wasn’t capable of multitasking, or if it was an intimidation technique because I was a female. I was young and not very assertive, so I never challenged them—never communicated that I could handle the job on my own.

Insights: Was there anything else?

Wahlberg: Lots of things, but the most frustrating thing was feeling invisible. We didn’t have scripts or protocols back then, so anytime something new would pop up—or a new twist on something old—we were instructed to talk it through together to determine the best response and use it as a learning opportunity for the future.  It was like I wasn’t even in the room, like there was a black curtain separating me from them. They made me feel like I didn’t exist, and my contributions were mostly dismissed.

Insights: How did you eventually combat that?

Wahlberg: We often had a lot of downtime between calls back then, so I started striking up conversations with them about things I thought interested them. I grew up spending a lot of time hunting and fishing with my dad and brother, and that’s very big in northern Minnesota, so I started engaging them with that. I became a bit more professionally accepted by them only after we started to connect on a personal level. When they realized that I could hold my own during those conversations, I started to feel more accepted and part of the team.

Insights: It couldn’t have been that simple—could it?

Wahlberg: No, not entirely. The real watershed moment when we turned a page was when we had a 7,000-acre wildfire occur on Mother’s Day in the early ‘90s—the phones were ringing off the hook, and they were too busy dispatching to help me answer the calls.  Actually, I was having an easier time multitasking than they were.  In the background I was catching some radio traffic and I knew multiple rural volunteer fire departments were being dispatched to bring water. I kept hearing, “We need more pumpers—we need more water.” I flashed back to my summers in college working at that taconite mine and seeing those enormous Caterpillar water wagons spraying makeshift dirt roads to keep the dust that was raised by gigantic production trucks hauling taconite at bay. I paused long enough to grab the telephone book—yes, we still used phone books to look up landline numbers back then, and everyone had a landline. I found the phone number for the general superintendent of maintenance at the mine and called him. In one run-on sentence, I blurted out my name, told him I worked for him four summers in the ‘70s, that I was a 911 call-taker working this fire, and we needed a water wagon to assist the fire departments. Long story short, two showed up. Combined they dumped almost 18,000 gallons of water. They could navigate over the rugged terrain and spray from the front, sides, and rear. They got ahead of the fire that was headed toward a small town that was being evacuated. 

When things settled down a couple of hours later, the fire dispatcher swung around in his chair, looking pretty wiped and said, “Thank God for those water wagons. I wonder where they came from.” I glanced over nonchalantly and said, “I called a mine superintendent at home and asked for one. It is probably good he sent two.” That was their “aha!” moment. It was almost as if they said, “We’ve seen you work when the rubber meets the road, and you’ve got this—you’re doing this as well as any of us.” They were equal parts impressed and surprised. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less apprehensive about asserting myself. I also had a wonderful mentor early on who I have continued to observe and learn from over the years. 

Insights: Who was the mentor?

Wahlberg: Nancy Pollock, who now works for Mission Critical Partners as a senior consultant. Nancy hired me as a telecommunicator, and I always have kept my eye on her as she moved her way to the top of our industry.  Always self-assured, calm, consistent, and in control even in the midst of a crisis— she had a way of addressing problems that was incredibly effective. She could tell someone to jump off a bridge and they would think that it was their idea (laughs). To this day I admire and learn from Nancy. I also have learned from women who I didn’t want to emulate—I didn’t want to be perceived as one of those “I am woman, hear me roar” types who feel that they have to fight their way to the top and prove their self-worth solely because they’re female. I want to be accepted and treated as an equal partner, and not be treated as someone who believes that she deserves a voice because women should not be oppressed. My parents and my husband have been huge encouraging and supporting forces in my life as well. 

Insights: At this point, do you feel that women in public safety are no longer oppressed?

Wahlberg: Things have come a long way since I started my career more than three decades ago. However, every time I changed jobs or even positions within an organization I’ve encountered some challenges. Women still are treated as outsiders on some level, and there’s still a constant feeling of having to prove yourself, and struggling to make your voice heard. I also think there still are more obstacles for women to clear compared with men. But there also are fewer men in public safety who feel that they have to take the dominant role—most of the men in public safety are more accepting of women and working side by side with them as partners.

Insights: What advice do you have for women considering a career in public safety?

Wahlberg: First, if you have a passion for what you’re doing, don’t let anybody—male or female—push back on you or intimidate you. If you have the desire to make public safety better, just keep moving forward—you might take one step forward and two steps backward for a while, but that’s okay. Also, play to your strengths, even if they are perceived as stereotypes. For example, let’s say that someone characterizes you as a “nurturer” solely because you’re a woman. So what? Everyone needs to be nurtured at some point. If you truly are a nurturer, use that strength to bring the group together to build consensus. That’s just one of many examples. Do your homework and think before you speak. When you do speak, do so professionally and assertively, but also guard against being perceived as a know-it-all—admittedly it’s a fine line. Finally, set out to earn respect, not demand it. Whether you are male or female, a director or a support staff member, it matters not. People who are respected for the vision and intellect they bring to the wildly evolving technology-based environment in which we thrive will find a place to succeed based on their own merits. 

Throughout National Women's History Month we will continue to share stories and advice from women in the public safety sector and celebrate their contributions. MCP is grateful to all of the women whose hard work has helped shape this industry. You can read our previous post in this series here.