Officers’ Perceptions of Gender Differences in Career Progression

In Chapter Three, we documented that women are more likely to leave during retention periods, where separation decisions are most likely to be voluntary. This result is supported by survey data showing that junior women are less likely to anticipate a full 20-year career (Figure 10). In this chapter we present the common perceptions offered by officers as to why career progression differs for women and men. We draw here on the same focus groups and one-on-one interviews with officers described in Chapter Four to explore why such gender differences exist.