NCJ Number
141668
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 54 Issue: 6 Dated: (August 1992) Pages: 106,108,110-111
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A survey of juvenile corrections agencies examined factors that contributed to the successful promotion of women to leadership positions and identified some of the barriers these women have encountered while working in traditionally male-dominated positions.
Abstract
Of the 42 women in 20 States who were contacted, 24 women from 13 States responded. The systems represented in the survey were Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and New York City. Women from nine agencies headed by women and four agencies headed by men participated in the survey. The women's positions included agency head, deputy directors, top management, and superintendents. Factors that the women said led to their success included concern for children, a vision that didn't accept the status quo, an ability to work with men, experience, and length of time in juvenile corrections. Nevertheless, they also felt that their employers did not perceive them as working toward a career track, that their male colleagues did not take them seriously, and that they constantly had to prove that they were capable of handling their jobs. Findings indicated the need to address the pressures women face in combining job and family demands, achieving leadership positions, and being accepted as supervisors and managers of men if they are to achieve equity in the juvenile corrections workplace. Photograph