Women in Power? Examining Gender and Promotion in Policing Through an Organizational Perspective

• Author: Kellie D. Alexander,Jeffrey S. Nowacki
• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/15570851211061744
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Feminist Criminology

2022, Vol. 17(2) 293–311

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/15570851211061744

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Women in Power? Examining

Gender and Promotion in

Policing Through an

Organizational Perspective

Kellie D. Alexanderand Jeffrey S. Nowacki

Abstract

Women bring important strengths to the field of policing, such as communication skills,

the ability to lead teams, as well as the ability to coach and nurture subordinates.

Despite these contributions, the rate of women entering policing has stagnated in

recent years, and the percentage of women in supervisory, command, and leadership

positions remains low. To explain this, we use an organizational structure perspective

to explore how characteristics of police agencies (e.g., department size, officer de-

mographics, and formalization) may influence the promotion of women to leadership

positions. We make suggestions regarding hiring and retention and provide recom-

mendations for further research.

Keywords

policing, women, intersections of race/class/gender, promotion, organizational

structure

Introduction

Women in law enforcement bring several unique strengths to the traditionally male-

dominated profession, such as policing styles that are more capable of de-escalating

potentially violent confrontations quickly and avoiding instances of use of force

Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Corresponding Author:

Kellie D. Alexander, A-A14A Clark Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.

Email: Kellie.Alexander@colostate.edu

(Heidensohn, 1992;Lersch, 2002;Orrick, 2008). Policewomen are also particularly

skilled in addressing violence against women, as well as sex offenses (Miller & Segal,

2018;Spohn & Tellis, 2012). Scholars also suggest that the mere presence of po-

licewomen in a department increases the reporting rates of violent crimes against

women in the community and can reduce the rates of future domestic violence incidents

(Miller & Segal, 2018).

Importantly, policewomen also excel in terms of leadership and supervision. Al-

though men and women exhibit similar leadership competencies necessary to law

enforcement such as the ability to lead teams, communicate clearly, and engage in

conflict resolution (Eagley et al., 2001;Ortmeier & Meese, 2010), some scholars such

as Hazenberg (1996) among others suggest that women possess superior abilities to

visualize problems, communicate effectively, and a greater ability to coach and nurture

subordinates in policing (Eagley et al., 2001). Further, research demonstrates that

officers of all genders prefer the transformational leadership style often associated with

policewomen in power, compared to other styles that are more authoritarian (Deluga &

Souza, 1991;Silvestri, 2007;Singer & Singer, 1990).

Despite women’s propensity for leadership in law enforcement, rates of repre-

sentation in leadership positions remain historically low (Cordner & Cordner, 2011;

Hyland & Davis, 2019). Research suggests that although women represent around 13%

of all sworn law enforcement positions, women serve as less than ten percent of first-

line supervisor positions, and less than three percent of chief positions (Cordner &

Cordner, 2011;Hyland & Davis, 2019;Reaves, 2015). In small and rural agencies,

almost 98% have no women in leadership positions (Reaves, 2015). Over the last ten

years, data suggest that policing organizations have made little progress in recruiting

more women into the profession, particularly into positions of power (Cordner &

Cordner, 2011;Hyland & Davis, 2019;Langton, 2010).

One factor that could potentially influence promotion of policewomen is organi-

zational structure. That is, characteristics of the police agency itself (e.g., department

size, officer demographics, level of complexity, and formalization) may influence how

well the agency does in terms of developing a roster that is representative (both in terms

of race/ethnicity and gender) and promoting members from that group. For example,

research finds that larger agencies tend to be more diversified (Jordan et al., 2009;

Morabito & Shelley, 2015;Schuck, 2014), while more complex agencies tend to be less

diversified (Matusiak & Matusiak, 2018). It is possible that the structure of the or-

ganization reflects underlying conditions that may be conducive to an agency hiring and

promoting more women.

In this study, we draw upon Acker’s theory of gendered institutions (Acker, 1990,

2006,2012) to explore female representation in leadership positions within policing

agencies in the United States. Using data from the Law Enforcement Management and

Statistics (LEMAS) survey, we use negative binomial regression techniques to examine

how the organizational structure of police agencies relates to whether these agencies

have women in leadership positions. We argue that gendering is more deeply embedded

in more complex, bureaucratic organizations, and these agencies are less likely to

294 Feminist Criminology 17(2)