Influence of Gender on Perceptions of Barriers to a Police Patrol Career

Abstract

Policing as an institution has been under immense pressure to increase the representation of women as police patrol officers. As the representation of women in policing has plateaued, increasing research has focused on barriers to women entering patrol work but has not examined the salience of these barriers with respect to males or reliably determined which barriers are most influential to desire to enter a police patrol career prior to employment. Drawing upon survey responses from more than 640 students enrolled in criminal justice courses across five universities (i.e., University of Southern Mississippi, Illinois State University, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Indiana University-Purdue University Indiana, and Missouri State University), the current inquiry examines the degree to which female and male students differ in their perceptions of barriers to entering a patrol career frequently listed in the literature. The findings indicate that female students view many of these obstacles differently than male students and that these perceptions influence interest in patrol careers.

Why Did You Become a Police Officer? Entry-Related Motives and Concerns of Women and Men in Policing

“…An emerging area regarding recruitment is concerns about career entry (Cambareri & kuhns, 2018;Lord & Friday, 2003;Rossler et al, 2020;Todak, 2017). Literature on motivation emphasizes that behavior is inspired by two sides of the motivational coin: (a) hopes and expectations and (b) fears or concerns 1 (Markus & Nurius, 1986).…”

“…Even if women are attracted to policing, experiences with, or concerns about, discrimination could discourage them from pursuing it. A few studies have found that young women have concerns about gender as a barrier to a career in policing (Cambareri & kuhns, 2018;Lord & Friday, 2003;Rossler et al, 2020;Todak, 2017), and these concerns are not unfounded. There is plenty of evidence that issues of gender equity and fair treatment still exist in law enforcement.…”

“…A meta-analysis of gender differences in job preferences found that one of the largest differences across studies was women's preferences for "opportunities to help people" (konrad et al, 2000). Still, young women are not likely to see policing as a career option Rossler et al, 2020) and so the challenge is getting those women who want to help others to see policing as fitting with that desire. This might mean concentrating on marketing that deemphasizes masculine "running and gunning" imagery and focuses more on meaningful interactions with community, or it could mean engaging college students majoring in traditional helping career areas (e.g., psychology, social work) as part of recruitment.…”

“…Although we are not the first to explore motivations (e.g., Lester, 1983;Raganella & White, 2004; M. D. White et al, 2010), persistent struggles with police recruitment demand continued work in this area. We expand the work on police entry with a systematic focus on concerns that surround career entry, a growing area of importance (e.g., Cambareri & kuhns, 2018;Lord & Friday, 2003;Rossler et al, 2020). We asked officers to identify what attracted them to policing at the start of their careers and what they remember being nervous about.…”

Examining Views of Police Chiefs and College Students Regarding Drug Disqualifiers for the Hiring of Police Officers in Arizona

“…While this study serves as an important first step in assessing perceptions on drug disqualifiers by both potential police applicants and those hiring them, there is still a great deal of work that can be done moving forward. Future research should use multivariate models to examine different demographic factors that may influence the perspectives on drugs and other police career issues (see Rossler et al, 2019, 2020), as well as find ways to survey samples more representative of police applicants. Furthermore, it would also be valuable to examine the perspectives of both chiefs and students in other states to better understand the generalizability of these findings and the potential for similar or different rule change recommendations.…”