Gender differences in the work experiences of New Zealand police officers

Abstract

This research investigates differences in the work experiences of male and female officers within the New Zealand policing context. The impact of these experiences on psychological well-being, job satisfaction and turnover intentions is also considered along with the effects of negative affectivity, mastery and social support. The research was conducted longitudinally with a four-month time lag between the distribution of the Time One and Time Two Questionnaires. The analyses revealed no significant gender differences in relation to psychological well-being (general or work-related), job satisfaction or turnover intent. In addition, no differences were found in officers' perceptions of mastery or in their experiences of social support, daily work hassles or inter-domain conflict. Significant differences were identified in officers' levels of negative affectivity and in their experience of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Male and female officers reported experiencing gender discrimination in relation to achieving a promotion, though only male officers reported perceptions of gender discrimination in association with accessing training. Approximately half the female respondents indicated they had experienced sexual harassment, however, sexual harassment was not consistently associated with psychological strain or job satisfaction. A significant association was identified between sexual harassment and turnover intentions. Sexual harassment was found to be a significant predictor of turnover intent in the cross-sectional analyses however this relationship was not consistently identified. The results of this study suggest that sexual harassment is a work-related stressor that may significantly impact on the ability of policing organisations to retain female officers.