How Women in Policing Navigate Gender Expectations & Identities in Scottish Police Culture

Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of women in Scottish policing advocate the progress and advancement of female officers, focusing the gender agenda internally. My proposed research attempts to realign academic attention on the inequalities and divisions that exist within Police Scotland; questioning how women in Scottish policing navigate the apparent conflictual gender identities associated with the masculine cop culture. This research also attempts to highlight the saliency of social scientific research in exposing often taken for granted oppressive systems and conflicts of interest with in Criminal Justice Organisations.

The overarching research question 'How do Women in Policing Navigate Gender Expectations & Identities in Scottish Police Culture?' is broken down into three sub-questions. Given the conflicting evidence surrounding policewomen and saliency of prioritising women own perspectives (Flavin, 2001:274) 'To what extent is gender inequality perceived as a problem among Scottish Policewomen?'. Likewise, 'Do female officers feel continual resistance or wide acceptance from male and female colleagues?' seeks to establish both positive and negative experiences, opposing depictions of policewomen as victims and whether women feel subordinated by fellow female colleagues. 'What are female
officer's experiences of part-time and flexible working patterns?' shall also be explored given its framing as biggest barrier to gender equality in policing (Wood, 2013).