Women in the police service : why do so few achieve the ACPO ranks?

• Main Author: Astley, Janet
• Published: University of Liverpool 2011
• Subjects: 363.2092
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.569893

Adopting a feminist criminological perspective this study will integrate literature relating to women in management and women in criminology in order to ascertain the barriers to women's career progression in policing. There is a plethora of reasons why women are apparently unsuccessful when it comes to promotion to higher ranks within police service and these relate not only to gender and the perceived 'glass ceiling' in society and police culture, but to the psychological and sociological barriers that women inadvertently self-impose. Underpinned by feminist ideology a range of methodologies were used including questionnaires, focus groups and finally in-depth life history interviews with senior ranking women in order to ascertain the discursive courses in relation to power, identity and hierarchy. Predicted societal demographic changes combining increased longevity of female survival rates will result in a gender imbalance in work forces. Inevitably numbers of working females, police service included, will naturally result in a necessity for female officers to achieve higher status reducing the divisive notion of homogenous groups. Organisational culture and behaviour implies that females in the police service are perceived as lacking commitment limiting the likelihood of progression for female officers. This research endeavours to contribute to future research and national policy to identify explicit barriers paving the way for change in the service reflecting the policing needs of 21st Century society.