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

• Author: Josie Francesca Cambareri,Joseph B. Kuhns
• DOI: 10.1177/1098611118760862
• Published date: 01 September 2018
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Perceptions and

Perceived Challenges

Associated With a

Hypothetical Career

in Law Enforcement:

Differences Among

Male and Female

College Students

Josie Francesca Cambareri

1

and

Joseph B. Kuhns

2

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 fulfill-

ment. 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.

1

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joseph B. Kuhns, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina at

Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.

Email: jbkuhns@uncc.edu

Police Quarterly

2018, Vol. 21(3) 335–357

!The Author(s) 2018

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/1098611118760862

journals.sagepub.com/home/pqx

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 agen-

cies, comprising only about 12% of officers (Archbold & Schulz, 2008; Federal

Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2015; Kringen, 2014; Langton, 2010). For deca-

des, 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 examin-

ing 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 asso-

ciated 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 com-

paring 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 tru-

ancy, prostitution, or other roles akin to that of social workers (Lonsway,

Carrington, et al., 2002). Progress was nearly stagnant in the 1930s when the

336 Police Quarterly 21(3)