VERTICAL MOBILITY, THE “GLASS CEILING”, AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION: PERCEPTION OF FEMALE POLICE OFFICERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51738/Kpolisa2024.21.1r.223strKeywords:
women police officers, Serbia, the glass ceiling, vertical advancement, gender discriminationAbstract
In Serbia women are still discriminated against in all aspects of their public and private lives. The security system, especially police, bears the consequences of structural inequalities. Our research deals with the position of women working in police units. The aim of the research was to define the identities of policewomen in Serbia through their perception of vertical advancement and exposure to gender discrimination. The research will be based on qualitative approach ‒ interviews with women police officers. The sample will consist of 40 respondents from different police units, selected using the snowball method. Qualitative results indicated the presence certain doses of gender stereotypes in women, but also their impression that they are not completely professionally accepted by colleagues. The results indicate a structural gender segregation and marginalization, which is reflected in the imprisonment of women in narrow circle of administrative and auxiliary police work. The findings of this study will represent an important argument in the development and improvement of gender-sensitive regulation in the police, protection against discrimination and in the projection of its personnel structure and career advancement of employees under equal conditions.
Downloads
References
Babic, A. & Hansez, I. (2021). The glass ceiling for women managers: antecedents and consequences for work-family interface and well-being at work. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.618250
Babović, M. (2010). Rodne ekonomske nejednakosti u komparativnoj perspektivi: Evropska unija i Srbija [Gender economic inequalities in a comparative perspective: European Union and Serbia]. Sociološko udruženje Srbije i Crne Gore, Institut za sociološka istrazivanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu i SeConS – Grupa za razvojnu inicijativu.
Bacik, I. & Drew, E. (2006). Struggling with juggling: Gender and work/life balance in the legal professions. Women's Studies International Forum 29(2): 136–146.
Balkin, J. (1988). Why policemen don’t like policewomen. Journal of Police Science and Administration 16(1): 29–38
Benschop, Y. & Brouns, M. (2009). The trouble with the glass ceiling. Critical reflections on a famous concept. 4 th International Critical Management Studies Conference. The Intersection of critical management research and organizational practice.
Bjelajac, Ž. (2015). Politika suzbijanja kriminaliteta [Crime Suppression Policy]. Pravni fakultet za privredu i pravosuđe u Novom Sadu.
Bjelajac, Ž. (2016). Sektorski pristup bezbednosti – analitički okvir kompleksne bezbednosne dinamike [Sectoral approach to security – analytical framework of complex security dynamics]. Kultura polisa, 13(31): 303–315.
Blagojević, M. (2006). Rodni barometar ‒ društveni položaj i kvalitet života žena i muškaraca.[Gender barometer - social position and quality of life of women and men]. Ažin.
Brent, S. (2008). Female participation in the police promotion process: are women competing for promotion in numbers proportionate to their statistical representation in policing? Department of Political Science. The University of Western Ontario.
Brown, J. (2007). From cult of masculinity to smart macho: gender perspectives on police occupational culture. Police occupational culture, New debates and directions. Sociology of crime, law and deviance 8: 205-226.
Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine Domination. Stanford, Stanford University Press.
Butler, E., Winfree, T., & Newbold, G. (2003). Policing and gender: Male and female perspectives among member of the NZ police. Police Quarterly 6(3): 298-329.
Chan, J., Doran, S., & Marel, C. (2010). Doing and undoing gender in policing. Theoretical Criminology 14(4): 425–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480610376408
Cohen, J. R., Dalton, D. W., Holder-Webb, L. L., & McMillan, J. J. (2020). An analysis of glass ceiling perceptions in the accounting profession. J. Bus. Ethics 164: 17–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4054-4
Connell, R. (2005). Advancing gender reform in large-scale organisations: A new approach for practitioners and researchers. Policy and Society 24(4): 5–24.
Cotter, D., Hermsen, J.M., Ovadia, S., & Vaneman, R. (2001). ‛Glass ceiling effect.’ Social Forces 80(2): 655-682.
David, M. & Woodward. D. (1998). Negotiating the glass ceiling: careers of senior women in the academic world. UK Falmer Press.
Deljkić I., Malis-Sazdovska, M. & Spasić, D. (2023). Gender balance in the criminal justice system: Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia. In Angelina Stanojoska, Darko Dimovski, Elena Maksimova (eds.). The Handbook on Female Criminality in the Former Yugoslav Countries, pp. 261-293. Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27628-6
Deutsch, F.( 2007). Undoing gender. Gender & Society 21(1): 106-27.
Dick, P., & Jankowitz, D. (2001). A social constructionist account of police culture and its influence on the representation and progression of female officers: A repertory grid analysis in a UK police force. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 24(2): 181–199.
Enwise Expert Group (2003). Waste of talents: Turning private struggles into a public issue. Women and science in the enwise countries: A report to the European Commission. Brussels: Directorate-General for Research.
Essig E., & Soparnot R. (2019). Re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective. M@n@gement 22(3): 373-410.
Fleming, J., & Lafferty, G. (2002). Equity confounded? New managerialism, organisational restructuring and women in Australian police servise. Paper presented to the 3rd Australian women and policing confrence Canberra.
Garcia, V. (2003). Difference in the police department: Women, policing, and ''Doing gender”. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 19: 330-344.
Godenzi, A. (1999). Style or substance: Men's response to feminist challenge. Men and Masculinities 1(4): 385-392.
Harrington, P. (2002). Advice to women beginning a career in policing. Women & Criminal Justice 14(1): 1–13.
Janković, R., Spasić, D., Koropanovski, N., Subošić, D., Dopsaj, M., Vučković, G., & Dimitrijević, R. (2020). Physical abilities and gender differences: Binary logic or gender dualism of the police organisation. Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo 71(4): 283-296.
Kakar, S. (2002). Gender and police officers perceptions of their job performance. Criminal Justice Policy Review 13(3):238-256.
Kim, D., & Starks, L. T. (2016). Gender diversity on corporate boards: Do women contribute unique skills? American Economic Review 106(5): 267–271.
Koenig, A. M., Eagly, A. H., Mitchell, A., & Ristikari, T. (2011). Are leader stereotypes masculine? A meta-analysis of three research paradigms. Psychol. Bull. 137: 616–642. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/a0023557
Kolin, M. (ur.) (2009). Rodne nejednakosti na tržištu rada u Srbiji i podsticanje evropskih integracija. [Gender inequality in the labour market in Serbia and the promotion of European Evropski pokret u Srbiji.
Martin, S., & Jurik, N. (1996). Doing justice, doing gender: Women in law and criminal justice occupations. Thousand Oaks, Sage.
Miller, S. L., Forest, K. B., & Jurik, N. (2003). Diversity in blue: Lesbian and gay police officers in a masculine occupation. Men and Masculinities 5(4): 355-385. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399702250841
Paoline, E., & Terrill, W. (2004). Women police officers and the use of coercion. Women & Criminal Justice 15(3-4): 97–119.
Rabe-Hemp, C.E. (2009). POLICEwomen or policeWOMEN? Feminist Criminology 4(2): 114–129.
Reva, A. (2012). Gender inequality in the labour market in Serbia. World Bank.
Schuck, A., & Rabe-Hemp, C. (2005). Women police. Women & Criminal Justice 16(4): 91–117.
Silvestri, M. (2017). Police culture and gender: Revisiting the cult of masculinity. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 11(3): 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paw052
Spasić, D. (2011, January–Aprill). Police culture and gender identity. Western Balkans Security Observer 6(19): 25–35.
Spasić, D., Đurić, S., & Mršević, Z. (2015). Survival in an “all boys club”: Policewomen in Serbia. Women’s Studies International Forum 48: 57–70.
Spasić, D., & Radovanović, I. (2019). “Always a woman, never a colleague”: Policewomen in Serbia. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 24(1): 31–40.
Stojanović, S., & Kesada, K. (ur.) (2010). Rod i reforma sektora bezbednosti u Republici Srbiji [Gender and security sector reform in the Republic of Serbia]. Beogradski centar za bezbednosnu politiku.
Tomić, M., & Spasić, D. (2010). Maskulinitet u profesijama [Masculinity in professions]. Antropologija, 10(1): 95-110.
Tomić, M. (2019). Žene u policijskoj profesiji i osvrt na stanje u srpskoj policiji [Women in the police profession and a review of the situation in the Serbian police]. Temida, pp. 289-317. https://doi.org/10.2298/TEM1903289T
Witz, A. (2004). Professions and patriarchy. Taylor & Francis e-Library. Walby, S. (1990). Theorizing patriarchy. Blackwell.
Zorić, J., Dičić, N., & Petković, N. (2008). Radna prava žena u Srbiji [Women's labour rights in Serbia]. Beogradski centar za ljudska prava.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Danijela Spasić, Marta Tomić, Ivana Radovanović
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.