‘Boys club’: stereotype of white male paramedic hampers gender equality, Victorian report finds

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says Ambulance Victoria should be doing more to improve gender equality. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP

The stereotype that paramedics must be “white, male, of able-body and mind, confident, stoic and the family breadwinner” is preventing women from rising through the ranks of Ambulance Victoria, according to a new report.

The second volume of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s inquiry into the emergency service’s culture, released on Thursday, found the stereotype was particularly relevant in the “elite, male-dominated” mobile intensive care (MICA) and air ambulance units.