Perceptions and Perceived Challenges Associated With a Hypothetical Career in Law Enforcement: Differences Among Male and Female College Students

Abstract

Researchers have studied the experiences of female officers, but little is known about whether women, who are not yet officers, perceive future challenges and sex discrimination within a hypothetical law enforcement career. This study surveyed 387 male and female undergraduate students to compare perceptions and beliefs. Female students are less interested in a law enforcement career, perceive themselves as potentially less successful, and perceive less potential personal fulfillment. Women believe that current female officers receive less respect, acceptance, and opportunity. Perceptions of fulfillment and success significantly and positively impacted interest in a law enforcement career. In addition, fulfillment and success mediated the impact of sex on interest in a law enforcement career. These findings are important for recruiters because the sample comprises a target applicant pool that merits recruitment.

Keywords

law enforcement gender recruitment retention career

Introduction

Despite recent efforts to increase female employment in law enforcement, women remain severely underrepresented across local, state, and federal agencies, comprising only about 12% of officers (Archbold & Schulz, 2008; Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2015; Kringen, 2014; Langton, 2010). For decades, law enforcement agencies have been trying to remedy the difficulties in recruiting females into law enforcement careers and retaining female officers in their agencies. There are qualitative and quantitative studies examining barriers and challenges that current female officers perceive within the law enforcement culture (including support from family/friends, respect from the community, respect from fellow officers), as well as organizational barriers associated with hiring and promotion (e.g., undesirable aspects of the career, advancement opportunities, and effect of having children on advancement). However, there is very little research exploring these perceived difficulties among women who are potentially interested, but not yet employed, in law enforcement settings (Kringen, 2014). Studying female officers and women who are not yet hired is an important step toward understanding why women are harder to recruit and ultimately retain. Recruitment strategies that directly target women, while not widely used, have had some success in select agencies (Jordan, Fridell, Faggiani, & Kubu, 2009). Despite efforts to narrow the gap between male and female officers, females remain less interested in a career in law enforcement than males. Furthermore, low proportions of females in law enforcement may be attributed to sex differences in perceptions and beliefs about the profession. A comprehensive understanding of the differential interest in law enforcement may be achieved by surveying a broader potential applicant pool (Jordan et al., 2009). This study will address some of these issues by comparing males and female perceptions and beliefs regarding different aspects of, and viability of, a career in law enforcement.

Literature Review

A Brief History of Women in Policing

Few female officers were hired throughout the 1910s and 1920s and their police duties remained limited to crimes involving women and children, such as truancy, prostitution, or other roles akin to that of social workers (Lonsway, Carrington, et al., 2002). Progress was nearly stagnant in the 1930s when the Great Depression kept many women out of the workforce. During this decade, women in police departments largely held administrative or support positions such as dispatchers or clerical workers, in addition to their former roles of assisting with women and children (Lonsway, Carrington, et al., 2002; Marshall, 2013). After World War II, female officers experienced an increase in representation and more equality as law enforcement officers. Although still small in number, women in larger city departments began to be assigned to the same patrol duties as their male counterparts. Legislation in the 1960s and 1970s, including the 1963 Equal Pay Act, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Equal Employment Act of 1972, and the Crime Control Act of 1973, brought increased awareness and standards of equality to hiring women across all professions, including law enforcement (Schulz, 2004b). Despite substantial growth in opportunity and equality, the percentage of female officers in 1990 reached only 9% (Price, 1996).

While women have expanded their influence in local, state, and federal agencies, the FBI’s annual Police Employment data report that the percentage of full-time female law enforcement employees has grown little since 2004. The most substantial growth has occurred in federal agencies or large city departments (100 officers or more), where the percentage of female officers increased by 4% between 1990 and 2000 (Reaves & Hickman, 2002; Schulz, 2009). These observed increases are likely a result of the progressive nature of larger law enforcement organizations (Schuck, 2014), a broader recognition of the importance of equal opportunity and diversification in federal agencies (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016), and the appeal of higher salaries and improved benefits in larger agencies with mores resources and opportunity. Today, the proportion of female officers remains lowest in smaller, rural agencies (an average of 6%) and increases gradually as the size of the departments increase (as high as 15% for large departments) (Graue, Hildie, & Weatherby, 2016). As of 2014, women accounted for about 12% of full-time, sworn officers nationwide (FBI, 2015).

Recruitment and Retention of Female Officers

Difficulties in recruitment may be a result of differences between men and women regarding perceptions of challenges in a law enforcement career. Generally, women perceive more formal and informal barriers, and they more often believe that these barriers negatively affect the recruitment of women (Cordner & Cordner, 2011). Specifically, Cordner and Cordner (2011) surveyed police chiefs (all male) and female officers in a three-county area of Pennsylvania and found significant sex differences of opinions about the success of recruiting women. Approximately 48% of (male) police chiefs felt that agencies do not recruit women proactively, compared to 69% of the female officers surveyed. A majority of both groups felt that low female representation in law enforcement is primarily due to few applicants. So, while male chiefs and female officers may agree that women are less likely to apply to law enforcement agencies, female officers are more likely to feel that departments are not effectively recruiting women.

In addition to issues of recruitment, female officers voluntarily depart from their agencies at higher rates than males (Bureau of Justice Assistance [BJA], 2001; Doerner, 1995). When measuring beliefs about difficulties in retention, female officers were more likely to report that retention issues stem from an academy that is male-dominated and not woman-friendly, a culture that is male-dominated and not woman-friendly, and a lack of family-friendly policies such as childcare and maternity leave (Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Rabe-Hemp, 2009). Beliefs of a male-dominated police academy and police culture are rooted in decades of inequality and underrepresentation of women and these perceptions may be slow to change. However, agencies can address specific perceptions and beliefs that are unique to women to more effectively recruit females into this career.

Advantages of Including Females in Law Enforcement

While most believe that this diversification is important within the police force, there are differing beliefs regarding the proportion of female officers that departments should strive to hire. Police agencies have increased their efforts to recruit female officers with the belief that women have qualities or policing styles that can make them equally successful officers, and possibly more effective than their male counterparts in certain situations (Lonsway, Wood, Fickling, De Leon & Moore, 2002; Schuck & Rabe-Hemp, 2005). The idea that gender matters has long permeated police work and culture. Subscribing to gender differences worked discriminately against women in the past when they were limited to maternal or caregiver roles. However, recognizing these differences seems to be working in reverse (at times) and in support of women in recent years. Today, law enforcement agencies attempt to recruit more female officers because it is believed that their policing style differs from that of male officers (Kringen, 2014). However, departments that intentionally exaggerate these differences during their hiring and training processes (to appeal to female applicants) may actually discourage women who already perceive themselves as being less physically and mentally capable of police work (Kringen, 2014).

Responses to sexual assault and domestic violence incidents provide an illustration of the effectiveness of increasing female representation in law enforcement agencies. Today, nearly 1 in 4 women in the United States will be a victim of intimate partner violence (Breiding et al., 2014), and earlier research finds that female officers place a greater emphasis on characteristics of sympathy and compassion, and feel a greater responsibility for responding to domestic violence calls (Homant & Kennedy, 1985). Victims of domestic violence also generally report more positive experiences with female officers (Kennedy & Homant, 1983). Furthermore, researchers find that female officers perceive themselves as having more empathy and stronger communication skills than their male counterparts (Lonsway et al., 2003; Rabe-Hemp, 2009). In contrast, other findings have resulted in few significant differences between female and male officers in terms of their attitudes toward inmates (in a survey of correctional workers) and the general public (Jurik & Halemba, 1984; Poteyeva & Sun, 2009).

There is reason to believe that women may be initially interested in pursuing law enforcement careers for different reasons than men. For example, Seklecki and Paynich (2007) found in their large survey of female officers that the primary motivation to pursue a career in law enforcement was a desire to help people. Further, in studies of both men and women, female recruits were significantly more likely to indicate “the opportunity to help people” as a primary motivation (Raganella & White, 2004). Similarly, a survey of correctional officers found that a much greater proportion of women claim an “interest in human service work or inmate rehabilitation” than men (Jurik & Halemba, 1984).

Women may possess characteristics that make them effective officers. The debate that remains is whether females have certain characteristics or traits that make them equally or more effective/successful than their male counterparts. Research suggests that women are significantly less likely to use excessive force and deadly force, less likely to receive citizen complaints, less likely to have complaints against them sustained, and are less authoritarian (Horvath, 1987; Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991; Lonsway, 2001). Incidents involving female officers account for only about 6% of funds used to settle excessive force complaints (Lonsway, Wood, Fickling, De Leon, & Moore, 2002). These findings have important liability implications for departments that wish to establish stronger working relationships with their respective communities.

Perceptions and Experiences of Women Inside and Outside of Law Enforcement

If law enforcement agencies want to make meaningful changes in the representation of women in the police force, it is important for them to understand and respond to what women believe are the challenges that are unique to them. There is an abundance of literature on perceptions of current females in law enforcement; however, there is significantly less research that has attempted to measure perceptions of females who are not yet employed (Kringen, 2014). Women, who are interested in law enforcement, but perceive significant challenges to females in this career, will be difficult to recruit. In addition, there may be perceptions and beliefs that deter some women from considering a career in law enforcement at all. The factors below are some of the experiences and challenges that female officers report.

Fulfillment, Success, and Support

Research has found that women place greater significance on personal rewards, such as fulfillment, from their career than men (Bridges, 1989). Similarly, women in male-dominated professions define success in terms of work–life balance, maintaining relationships, and personal fulfillment, rather than material rewards or compensation (Dyke & Murphy, 2006; Eccles, 1987).

Balancing Work and Family Life

One challenge of importance to women is that policing is not considered a family-friendly profession, given limited maternity policies and the inflexibility of work schedules (Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Yu, 2015). More female officers (66%) than male officers (48%) reported a lack of family-friendly policies as a reason for a low representation of female officers. Creating policies supporting families and encouraging work–life balance could increase the number of female officers (Cordner & Cordner, 2011). While both male police chiefs and female officers agreed that it was necessary to adopt targeted recruitment strategies for women, female officers are more likely to support policies that would balance work and family life. Female officers, often the primary care-givers for their children, are more likely to face difficult occupational barriers from agency policies concerning pregnancy, maternity leave, childcare, rotating shift work, and required relocation practices (Cordner & Cordner, 2011). Beyond law enforcement, research finds that women generally are concerned with work–life balance and desire a career with scheduling flexibility (Frome, Alfeld, Eccles, & Barber, 2006).

Acceptance and Respect

A lack of respect from fellow officers and acceptance into the policing culture are additional experiences that women struggled with in the first few decades of their career, and these struggles persist today (Martin & Jurik, 2007; Seklecki & Paynich, 2007; Yu, 2015). In a random sample of over 500 female police officers, Seklecki and Paynich (2007) found that 39% of officers felt that they were less accepted in their agencies than their male counterparts, and 32% felt they were treated with less respect. A survey of female federal officers (Yu, 2015) indicate that the most reported challenge among women in federal law enforcement was a lack of respect from male colleagues, followed by a lack of family–work balance (45% and 26%, respectively). About one fourth of female officers reported “pervasive negative attitudes from their male colleagues” (p. 268). Beyond their peers, female officers perceive sex discrimination from supervisors, administrators, and the public (Gossett & Williams, 2008; Martin & Jurik, 2007; Seklecki & Paynich, 2007). Research on current officers seems to find that women feel their respect must be earned before it is given to them (Graue et al., 2016).

Promotion/Advancement Opportunities

An underrepresentation of females across all agencies contributes to a lack of women in high-ranking law enforcement positions. Agencies do often encourage female officers to consider promotional opportunities; however, research finds that female officers are still less likely to pursue these positions (Archbold, Hassell, & Stichman, 2010; Archbold & Schulz, 2008, 2012; Graue et al., 2016). Promotion can require schedule changes which may be problematic for female officers who are primary family caregivers. Obstacles of childcare and maternity leave may deter female officers from seeking promotional opportunities (Rabe-Hemp, 2009). Consequently, the increase in female patrol officers has grown at a faster rate than the promotion of women to leadership or command-level positions (Archbold & Schulz, 2012). The percentage of female officers promoted to leadership positions remains significantly lower.

Research finds that women perceive sex discrimination in considerations of assignments, promotions, and training opportunities (Yu, 2015). Evidence suggests that men and women value salary, opportunity, and advancement as equally important when considering careers (Bridges, 1989; Raganella & White, 2004); furthermore, males and females in law enforcement have similar promotion and advancement goals (Fekjaer & Halrynjo, 2011). Women who weigh these factors heavily in career decision-making may not believe a career in law enforcement is viable if they also believe female officers are less likely to be promoted.

Organizational Efforts to Increase Female Representation

A national survey of state, county, and municipal police agencies suggests that about one in five agencies utilized a recruitment strategy that directly targeted women (Jordan et al., 2009). Focused efforts to increase female hires are more prevalent in larger agencies, and these agencies are more likely to operate (currently or in the past) under a state mandate or court order for equal employment opportunity (Lonsway et al., 2002). Methods used by agencies include adopting hiring preferences (lower education standards, lower fitness standards, exam exemptions, setting a quota, offering faster promotion or higher pay, and preference on waiting lists) during the hiring and training processes; however, the utilization of these preferences is rare. About 3% to 5% of agencies reported having lowered fitness standards for female applicants and 1% to 4% reported giving preference to females on a waiting list. Other preferences such as quotas, exam exemptions, or higher pay were used in less than 1% of agencies surveyed (Jordan et al., 2009). These automatic preferences, used in a very small percentage of agencies, have had no statistically significant impact on female applicants or female hires (Jordan et al., 2009).

For agencies that did subscribe to some preference or targeted recruitment strategy, the subsequent results have been mixed. Jordan et al. (2009) found that while higher pay did increase the number of female applicants by 89%, there was no significant effect on the actual number of female hires. Annual agency recruitment budgets were positively predictive of increases in female applicants and female hires (Jordan et al., 2009). Overall, agencies that reported using targeted strategies or increased recruitment budgets, rather than automatic preferences, significantly increased their female hires. Departments will need to utilize focused campaigns in order to continue to increase their visibility for female applicants and subsequently increase female hires.

Summary of the Literature and Focus of This Study

There is a need for research that expands our understanding of how women perceive the viability of pursuing a law enforcement career and whether their perceptions about the career are related to a decreased interest in becoming an officer.¹ Much of what we know about women’s perceptions of a law enforcement career, and how they differ from men’s perceptions, comes from research on current officers (Kringen, 2014). This study relied on a new approach by studying a sample of students who may be considering a law enforcement career. Specifically, we surveyed male and female students enrolled in undergraduate criminal justice courses, a proportion of which will be interested in a law enforcement career (Krimmel & Tartaro, 1999). This study explores the perceived challenges to success among young women who may be interested in law enforcement or young women whose perceptions may have dissuaded them from pursuing a career in law enforcement altogether. Specifically, this study will test the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Female students will be less interested than male in a career in law enforcement.

Hypothesis 2 (H2): Female students will perceive themselves as being less successful than male students if they pursued a career in law enforcement.

Hypothesis 3 (H3): Female students will have different perceptions associated with a career in law enforcement, including:

a. Female students will perceive the career as less fulfilling than males.b. Female students will perceive less family/friend support associated with a decision to become a law enforcement officer than men.c. Female students will perceive more difficulties in receiving respect, acceptance, and opportunities in a law enforcement career than men.d. Female students’ views of the undesirable aspects of a law enforcement career will differ than those of men.

Hypothesis 4 (H4): Perceptions of a law enforcement career will predict students’ interest in law enforcement differentially across sex.

Methodology

Data for this study were collected by distributing an anonymous, in-person, self-administered survey (available from the first author upon request) to 630 students enrolled in five undergraduate criminal justice introductory courses. Courses that were surveyed include Introduction to Criminal Justice, which is a required prerequisite course (three sections of 159, 176, and 58 enrolled students), Introduction to Law Enforcement, which is an elective (one section of 202 enrolled students), and Introduction to Corrections, which is also an elective (one section of 35 students). Students were surveyed in March and April of 2016 at a large, urban southeastern university. Students enrolled in two or three of the targeted courses only completed the survey once. Most students were between the ages of 18 and 24 years.

Of 630 students invited to participate in this study, 387 students returned surveys, an overall response rate of 61% (see Table 1). The highest response rate for one course was due to that particular professor offering an extra credit incentive to students who participated. Other professors did not offer extra credit. Response rates are based on the number of students enrolled in each course, not the number in attendance the day the survey was administered; therefore, true response rates for individual sections and the overall response rate are higher.

Table 1.

Courses and Response Rates.

	Enrolled	Participated	Response rate (%)
Introduction to Criminal Justice (1a; extra credit offered)	159	137	86
Introduction to Criminal Justice (1b)	176	119	68
Introduction to Criminal Justice (1c)	58	29	50
Introduction to Law Enforcement (2)	202	81	40
Introduction to Corrections (3)	35	25	71

Note. The number of students invited to participate across the five courses is not mutually exclusive.

Outcome Variable

The outcome variable in this study is interest in a law enforcement career. Interest was measured by the question, “I have an interest in becoming a law enforcement officer.” Participants chose one of three answer choices (yes, unsure, or no). Those who answered “yes” or “I’m unsure” were asked to indicate the extent of their interest. These participants could answer that they were somewhat interested (I have given the career path some thought), interested (I have given the career path serious thought), or very interested (I am seriously considering this career path). For multivariate analyses, interest was dichotomized where a value of “1” is “interested” (somewhat interested, interested, very interested) and a value of “0” is “not interested”.

Independent Variables

Variables thought to impact interest include perceptions of fulfillment and success, support of friends and family, respect from the community, respect and acceptance from fellow officers, opportunities for advancement, qualities of successful officers, and undesirable aspects of the career. Some questions that asked students about undesirable aspects of the career and qualities of successful officers were based on a prior online survey conducted by a local police department in August 2008.

Personal fulfillment was measured with the statement “I would feel a sense of personal fulfillment if I became a law enforcement officer” (a definition of personal fulfillment was offered as the achievement of life goals that are important to an individual, and give satisfaction to that individual). Students recorded their level of agreement with this statement using an 11-item Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (−5) to strongly agree (5). All participants, even those who indicated they were not interested in a law enforcement career, were asked about their perception of anticipated success with the following question: “I would be successful (able to perform duties effectively and fairly) as a law enforcement officer if I chose that career path.” Answers choices were given in an 11-item Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (−5) to strongly agree (5). An 11-item Likert-type scale was used to increase variability and the power of detecting and explaining differences between male and female students (Wittink & Bayer, 2003). Perceptions of support were measured using the same Likert-type scale based on the statement: “my family and friends would support my decision to become a law enforcement officer.”

A set of questions was used to measure student perceptions of respect and acceptance. Using the same Likert-type scale mentioned earlier, students were asked to report their level of agreement with the statement “law enforcement officers are respected by their communities.” Several additional questions asked participants to indicate whether male and female officers differentially experienced acceptance into the culture of their agencies, and whether male and female officers differentially received respect from their communities and from fellow officers.

Three questions were used to measure perceptions of opportunity and advancement. Students reported whether they believe male or female officers differentially received opportunities for advancement and promotion, are differentially considered for promotion, and whether their advancement is differentially affected by having children.

Finally, participants were asked to rank-order (1–8, where 1= the least desirable/worst aspect) various aspects of a law enforcement career. These aspects included: (1) pay not being high enough, (2) limited advancement opportunity, (3) dangerousness of police work, (4) lack of respect from the community, (5) physical fitness expectations, (6) not being a family-friendly profession, (7) high-stress situations, and (8) lack of respect from fellow officers. Aspects chosen for inclusion in this study were those frequently reported by respondents in a similarly designed online survey of college students. Based on prior studies, limited advancement opportunity and lack of respect from fellow officers were included because these are perceived challenges of female officers (Kringen, 2015; Raganella & White, 2004; Yu, 2015).

Demographics and Other Variables

Demographic variables measured included sex, age, and race. Participants were also asked whether they have any immediate family members who work as law enforcement officers, or if they experienced an encounter with an officer where they felt they were treated unfairly or disrespectfully. Females participants were asked how being a female impacted their interest in law enforcement. Female participants could choose one of five answers: strongly and negatively impacts my interest (makes me not want to be an officer), negatively impacts my interest to some degree, has no effect on my interest or lack of interest, positively impacts my interest to some degree, and strongly and positively impacts my interest (makes me want to be an officer).

Results

Returned surveys yielded a sample size of 387 undergraduate students, ranging in age from 18 to 47 years with a mean age of 20.8 years (SD = 3.3). Male students were an average of 1 year older than female students (21.2 vs. 20.3, respectively; p<.01). The sample approximately included 56% male and 44% female. Slightly less than two thirds (61.9%) of the sample respondents were Caucasian, 19.7% were African-American, 9.8% were Hispanic, 3.9% were Asian, and the remaining 4.7% were mixed races or other races. Overall, the study sample was reasonably representative of the university student population which was 49% female, 58% Caucasian, 16% African-American, 8% Hispanic, and 5% Asian. Within the sample, female students were more likely to have a family member in law enforcement than males (24.3% vs. 13.8%, respectively; p<.01). Students were asked to report whether they had a negative experience with a law enforcement officer where they felt they were treated unfairly or disrespectfully (see Table 2).

Table 2.

Participant Demographics, by Sex of Participant.

	Total (N = 387)	Male (N = 218)	Female (N = 169)	Test statistics
Mean age (SD)	20.8 (3.3)	21.2 (3.9)	20.3 (2.4)	t = 2.815**
Race
White/Caucasian (%)	61.9	66.5	56.0	χ² = 6.991
Latino(a) (%)	9.8	8.3	11.9
African American (%)	19.7	16.1	24.4
Asian-Pacific Islander (%)	3.9	4.6	3.0
Other (%)	4.7	4.6	4.8
Any law enforcement family members?
No (%)	81.3	86.2	75.7	χ² = 7.005**
Yes (%)	18.3	13.8	24.3	χ² = 7.005**
Ever treated unfairly by LEO?
No (%)	64.6	62.4	67.5	χ² = 1.070
Yes (%)	35.4	37.6	32.5	χ² = 1.070

Note. LEO = law enforcement officer.

*p<.05. **p<.01.

Results of the Hypotheses Tests

H1: Female students will be less interested than male students in a career in law enforcement.—As hypothesized, there are significant differences in levels of interest between male and female students (χ²=7.949, p<.05). Similar proportions of students reported being “somewhat interested”; however, male students were twice as likely to be “very interested.” Overall, nearly half the sample reported some level of interest in a law enforcement career. Varying levels of interest among the full sample, and by sex of participant, are displayed in Table 3.

Table 3.

Interest in, Fulfillment From, and Support for a Career in Law Enforcement, by Sex of Participant.

	Total (N = 383)	Male (N = 216)	Female (N = 167)	Test statistics
Level of interest in LE career
Not at all interested (%)	52.0	46.3	59.3	χ² = 7.949*
Somewhat interested (%)	26.1	27.3	24.6
Interested (%)	10.7	12.5	8.4
Very interested (%)	11.2	13.9	7.8
I would be successful if I became a LE officer. Mean (SD)	8.1 (2.2)	8.6 (1.9)	7.5 (2.6)	t = 4.677**
I would feel a sense of personal fulfillment if I became a LE officer. Mean (SD)	6.5 (2.8)	6.9 (2.5)	6.0 (3.0)	t = 3.144**
My family and friends would support my decision to be a law enforcement officer.Mean (SD)	7.6 (2.5)	7.6 (2.5)	7.5 (2.5)	t = .361

*p<.05. **p<.01.

Table 4.

Perceived Ranking of Undesirable Aspects, by Sex of Participant.

	Total (N = 387)	Male (N = 218)	Female (N = 169)	Test statistics
Mean (SD) Ranking of:
Dangerousness of police work	3.2(2.3)	3.5	2.8	t = 2.694**
Pay not high enough	3.4(2.2)	3.2	3.7	t = −2.299*
High stress situations	3.9(2.0)	4.1	3.7	t = 2.164*
Lack of respect from community	4.0(2.0)	4.0	4.0	t = −.169
Not family friendly	4.5(2.0)	4.4	4.6	t = −.652
Limited advancement opportunity	4.7(1.9)	4.6	5.0	t = −2.324*
Lack of respect from fellow officers	5.4(2.1)	5.4	5.4	t = −.052
Physical fitness expectations	6.6(1.8)	6.7	6.6	t = .277

*p<.05. **p<.01.

Table 5.

Bivariate Correlations.

Correlations (N=383)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Interest (1)	1.000
Fulfillment (2)	.473**	1.000
Success (3)	.293**	.368**	1.000
Family/Friend Support (4)	.209**	.409**	.275**	1.000
Family LEO (5)	.010	−.019	.054	.029	1.000
Female (6)	−.123*	−.158**	−.235**	−.010	.135**	1.000
White (7)	.054	.113*	.073	.114*	.041	−.108*	1.000
Age (8)	.063	.028	.038	−.044	.020	−.142**	−.067	1.000

Note. LEO = law enforcement officer.

*p<.05. **p<.01.

H2: Female students will perceive themselves as being less successful than male students if they pursued a career in law enforcement.—Findings support the hypothesis that women perceive themselves as being potentially less successful as law enforcement officers if they were to choose that career path. As seen in Table 3, female students had a significantly lower average perceived success ranking than male students (7.5 vs. 8.6, respectively; p<.01). Mean differences in perceptions of success had the largest effect size in this study (Cohen’s d=.48).

H3: Female students will have different perceptions associated with a career in law enforcement.

Female students will see the career as less fulfilling than males.—As hypothesized, male students had a higher average ranking for “I would feel a sense of personal fulfillment if I became a law enforcement officer” than female students (6.9 vs. 6.0, respectively). Group differences in personal fulfillment were statistically significant but had a relatively small effect size (t = 3.144, p<.01, Cohen’s d =.32; see Table 3).

Female students will perceive less family/friend support for their decision to be law enforcement officers than men.—Table 3 also includes group comparisons for the question “My family and friends would support my decision to be a law enforcement officer.” There were no differences between male (mean = 7.6, SD = 2.5) and female students (mean = 7.5, SD = 2.5).

Female students will perceive more difficulties in getting respect, acceptance, and opportunity in a law enforcement career than men.—There were significant differences between male and female students regarding their beliefs about the experiences of officers. For ease of interpretation, beliefs regarding officer experiences were collapsed from a 5-point Likert-type scale to three levels of agreement; (a) favorable to female officers (women receive a little/a lot more respect, acceptance, and opportunity); (b) neutral (men and women receive equal respect, acceptance and opportunity), and (c) favorable to male officers (men receive a little/a lot more respect, acceptance and opportunity). As hypothesized, chi-square tests yielded significant proportional differences between male and female students across all included experiences. More male students indicated that male and female officers receive an equal amount of community support, whereas more female students reported “male favorable” answers (male officers receive a little or a lot more) for experiences including respect among their fellow officers, acceptance into agency culture, and opportunity for advancement and promotion. More male students were inclined to believe that male and female officers were equally impacted by having children.

Female students’ views of the undesirable aspects of a law enforcement career will differ than those of male students.— Male and female students both rank-ordered aspects of a law enforcement career that they may find undesirable. As seen in Table 4, the three most undesirable aspects for male students were low pay, dangerousness of the work, and lack of respect among the community. Female students reported dangerousness as the most undesirable aspect of the career, followed by low pay and high-stress situations (low pay and high stress had the same mean ranking for females). Statistically significant differences in ranking (scores) existed for aspects of low pay (p<.05, d=.24), limited advancement (p<.05, d=.24), dangerousness (p<.01, d=.28), and high-stress (p<.05, d = 22), although these differences have relatively small effect sizes. Male students reported that low pay (mean rank = 3.2) and limited advancement (mean rank = 4.6) were more undesirable, while female students found that the dangerousness (mean rank = 2.8) and high-stress situations (mean rank = 3.7) were more undesirable.

H4: Perceptions of a law enforcement career will predict students’ interest in a law enforcement career differentially across sex.—Finally, logistic regressions were used to predict interest (dichotomized) in a law enforcement career. Earlier analyses found that women were significantly less likely to be interested in a career in law enforcement. In addition, bivariate findings related to respect, acceptance, and advancement were significantly different across men and women. Initial multivariate models included predictors of personal fulfillment, support of family and friends, perceived success,² sex, respect, acceptance, and advancement. However, sex, support of family and friends, respect, acceptance, and advancement measures did not have a unique impact on the dependent variable (interest in a law enforcement career) when included in logistic regression models. Variables that did not have purposeful effects in the “full model” were excluded from the final model and from the interaction effects model. In these simplified models, interaction effects between sex and fulfillment and sex and success were not significant.

Bivariate correlations also found that interest was significantly related to greater fulfillment, greater perception of success, family and friends support, and being female.³ Personal fulfillment and interest in a law enforcement career had the strongest bivariate correlation (p<.001). As expected, being female was inversely and significantly correlated with interest, fulfillment, and success (see Table 5). Predictor variables included in the final logistic regression model (see Table 6) were sex, race, age, personal fulfillment, and perceived potential success. Personal fulfillment (p<.001) and perceived success (p<.05) were positively related to interest in a law enforcement career; odds ratios for these predictors indicated that personal fulfillment and perceptions of success subsequently increases the probability of having an interest in a law enforcement career (OR = 1.7 and OR = 1.3, respectively). Significant Wald statistics were evident for both predictor variables, meaning both fulfillment and success independently have a unique contribution to the prediction of interest in a law enforcement career.⁴ Inconsistent with H4, sex of the respondent did not have a unique impact on interest, controlling for these perceptions.⁵ The final logistic regression model explained about 44% of the variability in interest.

Table 6.

Logistic Regression Equation Predicting Interest in a LE Career.

Variable	Coefficient	OR	SE	Wald
Sex (F=1)	.113	1.120	.271	.175
Race (W=1)	.026	1.026	.273	.009
Age	−.050	.952	.038	1.708

Fulfillment	.559	1.749	.071	61.473**
Perceived success	.245	1.278	.076	10.397*
Intercept (constant)	−4.960	.007	1.035	22.954**

Note. Nagelkerke R² Square: 0.439; N= 372. LE = law enforcement.

*p<.05. **p<.001.

Discussion

Relying on a sample of 387 undergraduate students enrolled in criminal justice introductory courses, this study explored differences among male and female students regarding their perceptions and beliefs associated with a hypothetical career in law enforcement. This study measured personal perceptions of potential careers in law enforcement, as well as perceptions of the experiences of sworn officers. Differences in perceptions among male and female students may help to explain differences in perceived success in a law enforcement career and subsequently may influence interest in a law enforcement career.

Overall, female students were less interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. Additional analyses found significant differences in perceptions of a law enforcement career and experiences of officers between males and females. Female students reported a lesser sense of personal fulfillment and lower perceived success if they were to become law enforcement officers in the future. Inconsistent with the original hypotheses, male and female students had similar levels of agreement regarding support from family and friends if they were to become law enforcement officers. Female students were more often inclined to believe that current female officers receive less community respect, less respect from fellow officers, less acceptance into the culture of their agency, and less opportunity for advancement. When ranking aspects of the career found to be undesirable, females were more concerned with the dangerousness and high stress of police work.

Multivariate analyses focused on the primary outcome variable within this study: interest in a law enforcement career. Sex and perceptions of family/friend support had no impact on interest. The sex effect found in bivariate analyses was minimized by perceived fulfillment and success when predicting interest in a law enforcement career. While women do report less fulfillment and perceptions of having success as officers, these multivariate analyses do not suggest that being female is uniquely predictive of decreased interest in law enforcement. In addition, student perceptions of the experiences of active officers did not predict their interest. Controlling for demographics, students’ beliefs regarding their personal fulfillment and perceived success in a law enforcement career positively and significantly increased the odds of being interested in law enforcement. Among all the variables tested, higher scores for personal fulfillment most strongly predicted interest in a law enforcement career.

Study and Policy Implications

Women remain severely underrepresented in law enforcement (Archbold & Schulz, 2008; FBI, 2015) and women are more difficult to recruit (BJA, 2001; Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Kringen, 2014). This study confirms that young, college-educated women are less interested in a career in law enforcement than similarly situated (in terms of age and education) males. This finding may be problematic for agencies that desire higher proportions of female officers because the students surveyed in this study comprise a target applicant population (young, college-educated, mostly criminal justice students). Knowing that young women are less interested should encourage police agencies to actively target females during presentations and recruitment events, especially at universities. Perhaps women are less interested in law enforcement because they perceive challenges the career presents to their success. This study can help to inform agencies what these perceptions are and how to address them.

To help explain this disparity in interest, perceptions of self (success, fulfillment, support of friends/family) and perceptions of a law enforcement career more generally (experiences of officers and undesirable aspects of the career) were compared between male and female students. Among the sample, which is arguably a target applicant pool (Jordan et al., 2009), there was a relationship between sex and perceptions of success and fulfillment. Research on women in male-dominated professions has found that women value personal fulfillment more than men, and women often define success intrinsically while considering feelings of personal fulfillment (Bridges, 1989; Dyke & Murphy, 2006; Eccles, 1987). This study finds that female students believe that male officers receive more support, respect, and promotion within their agencies, which is consistent with studies of female officers (Gossett & Williams, 2008; Martin & Jurik, 2007; Seklecki & Paynich, 2007; Yu, 2015).

The implications of these findings are significant. Young women are less likely to believe they will be successful as officers and perceive feeling less fulfilled by the thought of police work. In response, agencies could stress the community-centered and service-oriented aspects of police work, which would make the profession seem more personally fulfilling. In addition, young women not yet employed as officers perceive that female officers face sex discrimination in promotion and advancement and are less respected and accepted. This perception will continue to dissuade young women who have some interest in law enforcement, but believe they will face challenges or discrimination after being hired. Agencies should proactively discuss these perceptions at recruitment events and explain how their organization is working to address these challenges, both during hiring and following employment.

Perceptions of success were generally predictive of interest in a law enforcement career; additionally, women in this sample were significantly less likely to perceive success as officers. These findings suggest that agencies should focus on ways to influence perceived success among potential female applicants. Male students may perceive a greater degree of success, even if they are not interested, because policing continues to be a male-dominated career characterized by the need for physical strength (Lonsway et al., 2003). Recruiters may increase perceptions of success among female applicants by educating them regarding what characteristics or practices are common among successful officers. It is important that female applicants understand that female officers are increasingly being sought by agencies because they are less likely to use excessive force, more likely to respond effectively to domestic violence situations, and their policing styles are more likely to improve police–community relations (Lonsway et al., 2003; Schuck & Rabe-Hemp, 2005). While doing so, agencies should not lose sight of the importance of personal fulfillment, which may be driving perceptions of success and interest.

Limitations, Suggestions for Future Research, and Conclusion

This study targeted a sample of over 600 students and results from 387 completed surveys were analyzed. Further, all respondents were undergraduate students at a large, urban, southeastern university, most of whom were criminal justice minors/majors. Therefore, some caution should be exercised when generalizing these results to other types of students or settings. Future studies might gather similar data from multiple universities with equally diverse populations. Use of a longitudinal survey designs to capture student perceptions and changes in perceptions across their academic careers, and as they learn more about law enforcement careers via coursework, may be informative.

Further, the findings of this study suggest that perceptions of success and personal fulfillment are significant predictors of interest in a law enforcement career for both males and females. Future inquiries may include further exploration of the interaction between sex and interest, and how perceptions differ among women who are and are not interested in law enforcement careers. Finally, since this study found that women were less likely to be interested in law enforcement, perceive potential success, and perceive future fulfillment, a subsequent study should determine how women define success and fulfillment, and how these definitions are different from their male counterparts. Face-to-face interviews or focus group sessions might be useful methodologies to thoroughly explore these concepts among male and female students (prior to employment) and officers (during or following employment).

While women have made advances in the male-dominated profession of policing, they remain underrepresented across local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies (Archbold & Schulz, 2008; FBI, 2015; Kringen, 2014; Langton, 2010). Prior research has examined recruitment and retention of female officers, as well as the experiences of women in policing; this research has focused on female applicants, women in the academy, and women who are employed as sworn officers. These studies have a commonality in that they expand upon what we know about women whom have chosen to embark on a law enforcement career (Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Jordan et al., 2009). This study contributes to this knowledge by comparing males and females, not yet pursuing this career or employed as officers, in order to understand how their perceptions of a law enforcement career differ. Law enforcement agencies should be encouraged to actively recruit young women, while discussing the negative perceptions of the career, specifically perceptions of their potential success, personal fulfillment, and support of family and friends.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biography

Josie Francesca Cambareri is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. Cambareri received her Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include recruitment of females into law enforcement, civilian oversight of police, officer-involved shooting policy, perceptions of police, and the intersection of race, justice, and policing. Cambareri is currently a research assistant on a multisite experiment to enhance procedural justice in hot spots policing, and the development of a program evaluation of a Boston nonprofit to reduce youth crime through education.

Joseph B. Kuhns is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Kuhns previously served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Department of Justice (Office of Community Oriented Policing Services). His research and evaluation projects have focused on the use of deadly force by, and against, the police, alcohol, drug, and violent crime relationships and the impact of burglary offending and victimization. Kuhns is continually working directly with numerous police departments, national associations, and the federal agencies to improve policing practices, identify emerging priorities, and enhance officer and community safety.

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