(Part two of a seven-part series about careers in Emergency Management.)
If higher education is the key to those future emergency (and continuity) management jobs, what level of education does one need? It depends on where you want to wind up in this field.
One of the best papers I've seen that explores this idea was written in 2006 by Dr. David Etkin, faculty at York University in Ontario. His draft of "Emergency Management Core Competencies" is on the FEMA Higher Ed site. I don't agree with everything in his paper - but he is from Canada and they think a bit differently up there. :-)
Dr. Etkin ranks the emergency management profession into different levels based on specific attributes critical to each level and then suggests the degree or certificate appropriate for each of those levels.
I've taken some liberties with Dr. Etkin's thoughts and came up with my own model. I admit I am not an academian. I'm basing my thoughts here on just being in this field for a long time and moving up this ladder myself. (If you can't see the graphic, try this link. )
I'm seeing four different professional levels as generalists (specialists belong in the next blog) and as one moves up the continuum of education, the application of those core competencies evolves.
Everyone in this field needs an understanding of the fundamental knowledge and skill sets (core competencies) that make up emergency management, leading to ...
... critical understanding from knowledge of the underpinnings of those core competencies, their limitations, how to identify gaps in knowledge/understanding and the implications of those gaps, moving into ...
... the application of integrated solutions - putting emergency management into a larger social and environmental context and applying this knowledge to a comprehensive emergency management framework, and if you want to go all the way ...
... conducting creative research - a knowledge of theory and practice in emergency management, conceptualizing questions and carrying out projects to test them.
In practice, this is how it works for a task like ... say ... completing a hazard vulnerability and risk assessment (HVA):
A technician would know how to complete a standard hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) matrix for a community, understanding risk based on the triad of frequency, severity and vulnerability.
A practitioner could also complete the HVA, understand the deficiencies in those models, consider the social and environmental implications and how to apply it to the community.
A senior policy maker would be able to take that HVA and incorporate concepts related to sustainable development, community values, culture, gender and socio-political contexts.
A researcher could develop hypotheses to measure and apply hazard, vulnerability and risk and then conduct theoretical and applied research to test them. (I'd be really happy - if there are any researchers out there reading this - for a good way to quantify mitigation.)
Looking back on the positions descriptions in my last blog, the Emergency Operations Manager in Elk Grove, CA would be more of a technician, while the EMA Director in Fulton County, GA is definitely in the senior policy maker box.
Bottom line - if you want to be a senior policy maker in this field, you should plan on getting a master's degree. Think of it as a shortcut, in a way. Education can drastically shorten the learning curve that many of us emergency managers went through to get where we are today.
Sure, there are a lot of other considerations - like what core compentency means, the difference between competency and mastery, and where specialists (not to mention consultants!) and certificates fit into all this.
Those are coming up.
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NEXT: The Market for Emergency Managers: The Core Competency Conundrum
