The Social Ecology of Gender Inequality & Female Representation in Policing

• In Event: Women in Policing I

Abstract

Women have been severely underrepresented throughout the history of policing in the United States. Surprisingly, despite recent calls for gender diversification in policing, the share of female officers remains relatively low and substantially varies across police agencies. While prior research has examined how agency characteristics influence gender diversification in policing, few studies have explored whether gender inequality in surrounding communities influence the share of women among police officers in local agencies. In particular, there is a paucity of research dedicated to examining how structural measures of gender equality explain inter-agency variation in female representation. Drawing on data from multiple waves of the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) Survey and the American Community Survey (ACS), we examine how agency characteristics and county-level gender inequality explain inter-agency variation in female policing between 2013 and 2020. We find county-level gender inequality in employment and managerial occupations are associated with a lower share of female officers when controlling for a large set of agency and county covariates. Accordingly, this study shows the importance of examining the social ecology of policing in the United States. This study informs new directions for policy and practice to improve gender diversification in U.S. policing.

Authors

• Jeffrey Nowacki, Colorado State University

• Anthony J. Roberts, Colorado State University