ABSTRACT

Over the past few decades, the presence of women on specialized units has become more commonplace. Despite this, they are still under-represented, especially among traditionally male-dominated units. This exploratory study surveyed 76 female law enforcement officers to gauge the types of specialized units in which they participate and assess their perceptions about working in a male dominated field. Results indicated that while a large portion of the women in our sample were in specialized units, they were more likely to work in units that fit their gender stereotype. Further analyses revealed striking trends among those women more recently hired in terms of their perception about fitting in specialized units and the number and types of units in which they participate. Implications for law enforcement practitioners, suggestions to overcome continued gender inequality in specialized units and recommendations to expand this research are discussed.

摘要

在过去的几十年里，女性在专业单位的存在变得越来越普遍。尽管如此，她们的代表性仍然不足，尤其是在传统上以男性为主的单位中。这项探索性研究调查了 76 名女性执法人员，以衡量她们参与的专业单位的类型，并评估她们对在男性主导的领域工作的看法。结果表明，虽然我们样本中的大部分女性都在专业单位工作，但她们更有可能在符合其性别刻板印象的单位工作。进一步的分析揭示了最近雇用的这些女性在对适合专业单位的看法以及她们参与的单位的数量和类型方面的惊人趋势。对执法人员的影响，