Anticipating the Future: The Early Experiences and Career Expectations of Women Police Recruits in Post-Fitzgerald Queensland

• NCJ Number: 161060
• Journal: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: (December 1995) Pages: 278-297
• Author(s): K Wimshurst
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This study investigates the recent large-scale entry of women into policing in one Australian state (Queensland) following a period of supposed major organizational and philosophical reform in the Queensland Police Service.

Abstract

The research literature shows that women have usually encountered considerable resistance when trying to establish themselves in police organizations both locally and overseas. In view of this, an important aim of this study was to determine whether there are any signs of fundamental change for women entering policing in the 1990's. Two surveys were administered to police recruits enrolled in the Advanced Certificate in Policing at one university. The first survey was completed during a session in the orientation week of the semester before the classes in the program had formally begun. The survey was designed to obtain biographical information about the educational, employment, and family backgrounds of recruits. The 135 recruits who completed the survey constituted the total number enrolled in two consecutive intakes in the course for the second semester of 1992 and the first semester of 1993. Overall, 91 of the respondents for the first survey were men, and 44 were women. The second survey, linked to the first by a code number, was completed by volunteers from the same two cohorts toward the end of their respective semesters in the program. A total of 111 students completed this survey, of which 65.8 percent were men and 34.2 percent were women. The primary aim of the second survey was to give women police recruits the opportunity to talk about their experiences and expectations. The findings show that although men and women entrants have much in common, there are some significant biographical and anticipatory differences. The study concludes that continuity rather than change is likely to characterize the experiences of women entering policing; obstacles to full integration persist. This article discusses the situations of women recruits under five themes that address continuity of experiences, physicality, exclusion, ambivalence, and coping strategies. 53 references