Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Job satisfaction as indicated by agreement with statements related to professional rewards/benefits (on left). Bars indicate mean level of agreement and originate at 3.5 for clarity (3.5 is the midpoint between the extremes of 1 = strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree). Means less than 3.5 indicate disagreement and greater than 3.5 indicate agreement. Standard deviations are not shown but ranged from 1.3 to 1.5.
- Figure 3.
Agreement with statements related to professional values. Respondents were asked “How do you feel about your profession?” and answered by indicating their level of agreement with various statements (on left). Bars indicate mean level of agreement and originate at 3.5 for clarity (3.5 is the midpoint between the extremes of 1 = strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree). Means less than 3.5 indicate disagreement and greater than 3.5 indicate agreement. Standard deviations are not shown, but ranged from 0.8 to 1.2.
- Figure 4.
Agreement with statements related to discrimination in the profession. Respondents were asked “How do you feel about your profession?” and answered by indicating their level of agreement with various statements (on left). Bars indicate mean level of agreement and originate at 3.5 for clarity (3.5 is the midpoint between the extremes of 1= strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree). Means less than 3.5 indicate disagreement and greater than 3.5 indicate agreement. Standard deviations are not shown, but usually were around 1 to 1.3 and only exceeded 1.5 twice (for minorities for statements b and f).
- Figure 2.
Answers to the question “How important are each of the following to you in your current profession?” Bars indicate means for five motivating factors (on left).
Tables
- Table 1.
Motivations for entering the urban forestry profession shown as percentages within a gender or minority category (number of respondents in parentheses).
Motivation White male
(n = 220)Female
(N = 238)Minority
(N = 63)Enjoyment reasons 62% (137) 56% (133) 51% (32) Love of outdoors 41% (91) 26% (63) 21% (13) Love of trees, plants 20% (44) 28% (67) 24% (15) Enjoyment 1% (2) 1% (3) 6% (4) Altruistic reasons 8% (18) 22% (52) 16% (10) Save planet 5% (11) 11% (26) 10% (6) Service to community 3% (7) 11% (26) 6% (4) Other reasons Income/employment potential 11% (24) 5% (11) 11% (7) Background/experience in profession 6% (13) 4% (10) 10% (6) Family/friends in profession 5% (10) 4% (9) 3% (2) Curiosity 1% (3) 5% (11) 5% (3) Other 7% (15) 5% (12) 5% (3) - Table 2.
Answer to the question “In general, how satisfied are you with your profession?” Data include percentages within a gender/minority category, number of respondents in parentheses next to percentages, means, and standard deviations.
Category Very dissatisfied (1) Dissatisfied (2) Indifferent (3) Satisfied (4) Very satisfied (5) Mean (SD) White male 0.8% (2) 2.5% (6) 0.8% (2) 39.3% (96) 56.6% (138) 4.48 (0.72) Female 0% (0) 0.8% (2) 3.9% (10) 46.5% (118) 48.8% (124) 4.43 (0.61) Minority 0% (0) 0% (0) 1.4% (1) 40.0% (28) 58.6% (41) 4.56 (0.52) Overall 0.4% (2) 1.4% (8) 2.3% (13) 42.6% (238) 53.3% (298) 4.47 (0.65) - Table 3.
Proportions and numbers of respondents indicating any agreement, strong agreement, or strong disagreement with several discrimination-related statements. Data presented include percentage agreement or disagreement within a gender/minority category and in parentheses the number giving a particular answer (N or n).
Statement Any agreement
(answers 4–6)
% (N or n)Strongly agree
(answer 6)
% (N or n)Strongly disagree
(answer 1)
% (N or n)Women generally treated unfairly in profession (see Figure 3b) White male 30.0% (68) 2.2% (5) 17.2% (39) Female 44.2% (111) 8.8% (22) 10.8% (27) Minority 42.4% (28) 10.6% (7) 15.2% (10) Overall 38.0% (203) 6.0% (32) 13.5% (72) Men generally treated unfairly in profession (see Figure 3d) White male 8.5% (20) 1.3% (3) 41.7% (98) Female 1.6% (4) 0.8% (2) 62.6% (152) Minority 10.6% (7) 6.1% (4) 47.0% (31) Overall 5.8% (31) 1.7% (9) 51.3% (275) Minorities not given same opportunities as others (see Figure 3f) White male 22.0% (49) 3.1% (7) 26.0% (58) Female 26.8% (62) 7.4% (17) 16.9% (39) Minority 31.8% (21) 7.6% (5) 30.3% (20) Overall 25.4% (130) 5.7% (29) 21.9% (112) - Table 4.
Discrimination-related comments written on the questionnaire by respondents by gender/minority status. Comments are organized in order of generally positive (little discrimination or things not too bad and getting better), generally negative (significant discrimination), or neutral (general comment or difficult to classify).
Comments by females (all were white; no comments from female minorities)
Generally positive
I think opportunities for women are increasing daily.
A competent, self-confident person will be treated like one; a person always trying to make excuses for their inabilities or inadequacies will probably find it easy to be discriminated against because they are discriminating against themselves.
As a woman with a disability, I have been extremely sensitive to the potential for “real” or “perceived” favoritism or discrimination. My findings are that qualifications are the determining factors, not race, sex, or disability.
Discrimination is a straw man set up to excuse personal failure.
[There are opportunities] for minorities to advance in this profession, but only if the employer supports their effort to learn English.
Generally negative
The tree department in our city is still “good old boyish.” They aren’t ready for women yet, but someday ...
There is a bias against hiring women for “heavy” landscaping or maintenance, but bias towards women for “high-end” gardening and professional design/sales, horticulture work that involves more thinking, writing, and talking.
The “good ol’ boy” network is alive and well within the profession.
It’s a man’s profession.
If I wanted part of another sales rep’s territory, all I had to do was sleep with him.
Mostly verbal abuse and unneeded comments that I just ignore and/or live with.
I’ve found there are some folks with a mindset “I’ll never change” and unfortunately this is a lot of times younger men.
I have seen many double standards within situations in 14 years, mostly on the local level; state level is okay.
Clients can be a problem; they are sexist.
[It is] frustrating to be a woman in the business particularly because of unequal treatment and the rumors that are inevitable.
I was assumed to be a lesbian.
I was assumed to be a secretary or the boss’s daughter or wife; if I got along with male co-workers, I’m assumed to be having an affair with them.
I’ve had to work harder and be better to be judged as my male counterpart’s equal.
Minorities get the low-paying jobs for all the landscape jobs.
Minorities lower the wage scale.
[Minorities] are given preferential treatment.
There are not a significant number of minorities being trained or who choose this profession. We have trained nearly 200 foresters as data collectors for our inventory, and there have been about six blacks, three Asians, a few Hispanics, and no one with disabilities.
Generally neutral
What minorities? I don’t experience this.
I do not know very many minorities or disabled persons in urban forestry. Or women for that matter.
Comments by white males
Generally positive
[Women] are treated the same, equal.
Generally negative
Women and minorities as of my knowledge do not proceed in this occupation. It is too labor intensive. There are exceptions to this, but they are few.
I feel it is the other way around. Minorities get used and aren’t compensated enough.
Women seem to have an edge for consideration in promotions in this profession (management positions, educational and research promotions). The gender pendulum has swung, or so it seems in [state].
[Minorities] are treated better sometimes.
Generally neutral
There is no such thing as a level playing field, and motivation to accomplish anything must start from within. If [the] desired goal is truly worth attaining, the struggle to achieve it is at best secondary.
I am disappointed that any survey in this day and age focuses so much attention on race, sex, and physical ability.
[I] know of only one or two women in the trade.
If there are few minorities in urban forestry, it is because there are few minorities studying the discipline that leads to this profession.
[The] tendency is for introverted people to gravitate to forestry to get away from people; most jobs are people jobs; there is no “hermit in the woods” existence.
Comments by minorities
Generally neutral
White, male, balding, dominant.
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