Anticipating the Future: The Early Experiences and Career Expectations of Women Police Recruits in Post-Fitzgerald Queensland*

This study investigates the recent large-scale entry of women into policing in one Australian state following a period of supposed major organisational and philosophical reform in the Queensland Police Service It focuses upon the early experiences of women recruits and their thoughts about their futures The research literature shows that women have usually encountered considerable resistance when trying to establish themselves in police organisations both locally and overseas

In view of this, an important aim of the study is to try to determine whether there are any signs of fundamental change for women entering policing in the 1990s The evidence suggests that while men and women entrants have much in common, there are some significant biographical and anticipatory differences The study concludes that continuity rather than change is likely to charactense the experiences of women entering policing, obstacles to full integration persist The situations of women recruits are discussed under five themes which encompass continuity of experiences, physicality, exclusion, ambivalence and coping strategies.