Turn Public Safety into a Priority Career Path for Women

Congresswoman and activist Shirley Chisolm once bravely said: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

While many career fields have historically been male-dominated, many women are pulling up their chairs to tables around the country, especially in public safety. While the growth of women in the public safety workforce is encouraging, there is still significant room for growth when it comes to the number of women in the field.

Learn more about the important roles women can have in public safety, and how ambitious women nationwide can get one step closer to becoming the public safety heroes that their community needs.

What is Public Safety?

As a whole, public safety education at Herzing University encompasses a focus across three main fields, each providing different career pathways: criminal justice, emergency medical technician and homeland security. 

• Criminal Justice: The criminal justice career path encompasses exciting and rewarding jobs, including a police officer, private investigator, correctional officer and more. In 2021, only 13.3% of full-time law enforcement officers were female, demonstrating a dramatic demand for women to join the field.
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT): Becoming an EMT means becoming a lifesaver to those in their most crucial moments. Only 31.6% of all paramedics are women.
• Homeland Security: Keep your community and our country protected with a career in homeland security. Potential jobs include civil engineers, operations officers, or even secret service agents. While women make up more of the homeland security workforce than other public safety careers, there is still a disparity of women in the field, with only 43% of Department of Homeland Security employees being women.

Joining any of these career paths will be a rewarding step toward a more successful future. But like any experience, there are challenges. Pursuing a new career is daunting for anyone, but especially for those who are joining a career where they are underrepresented. 

For the brave women who are answering the call for public safety workers, please remember the following critical work you can do to help advance future opportunities for those following in your footsteps.

• Find Your Voice: Whether you’re in the classroom, the office, or out on the job, remind yourself that you deserve to be heard and that your opinions matter. Finding your voice and having the confidence to stand by your ideas will take you far in both your career and your life. 
• Reach For The Stars: Earning your degree will position you for a multitude of opportunities, each allowing you to excel in the field you are passionate about. Give yourself room to learn, grow and advance in your career, continuing to dream and set more goals for yourself in the future. There are statistically fewer women in the public safety space, but there are even fewer women in leadership positions. Challenge yourself to advance into leadership roles throughout your career. You are not only benefitting yourself, but you’re also supporting the next generation of women behind you.
• Pull Up a Seat For Others: Empowered women empower women. No matter where you are in your educational or career goals, surround yourself with other women who share similar ambitions and support their dreams with the same enthusiasm that you treat your own. This benefits everyone, as you will flourish in a supportive environment, and simultaneously contribute to the empowerment of other women in the field.

Be confident that you are capable of making an immense difference in your community as a woman in public safety. Become the best version of yourself by exploring the variety of rewarding career paths. 

For those who are looking to jumpstart a career in public safety and become a role model for other women in the workplace, Herzing University offers accessible and flexible programs in criminal justice, emergency medical technology and homeland security.