The Second Shift.” Female Police Officers and the struggle of Work/Life Balance and Promotion

This study examined how women in law enforcement maintained a work-life balance with responsibilities such as motherhood, domestic responsibility and other care-taker roles. While there has been some research conducted on female police officers, much of the literature was outdated. Further, many of these studies focused on women’s performance and competence as police officers, and the associated burnout rate of female police officers. Very few studies examined the gender gaps in supervisory positions in relation to the Law Enforcement field within the United States, as well as the continued underrepresentation of women in Law Enforcement. Additionally, previous literature did not offer much insight on barriers that may hinder female police officers when trying to advance their careers. Instead, most studies focused on discrimination as the main barrier, excluding other variables that should be considered when examining the barriers to career advancement. Since information regarding this topic remains limited, results of this study provided valuable insight into current female police officers; increased awareness on the professional and personal struggles of female police officers; and can assist police administrators with guidelines on how to retain and increase female representation in the workforce especially within supervisory positions