Women’s Motivations for Becoming a Police Officer: A Chinese Case Study on Women in Policing

Figures & data

Table 1. Profiles of female officer participants (n = 28).

Characteristics	Number	Percentage
Age
20–29	4	14
30–39	15	54
40–49	8	29
50–55	1	3
Civil status
Single	5	18
Married	22	79
0 child	[1]	–
1 child	[18]	–
2 children	[3]	–
Divorce	1	3
1 child	[1]	–
Education
Police college	13	46
3 years	[3]	–
4 years	[10]	–
BA/LLB	4	14
MSc/LLM	3^a	11
PhD	8^b	29
Years of service
1–5	10	36
6–10	6	21
11–20	7	25
21–30	4	14
30+	1	4
Police ranking^c
Jing-si
3	3	12
2	6	21
1	2	7
Jing-du
3	6	21
2	7	25
1	4	14

Notes: ^aOne officer in this sample studied an LLM in a police academy. ^bTwo officers in this sample completed their doctorates in the police academies. ^cPolice ranking from low to high.

Table 2. Influences of female participants who entered the policing world (n = 38).

Influences or motivations	Number of participants	Percentage (%)
Family (parental) influences	9	24
Materialistic considerations (job security, good pay, other employment related benefits, and regular and stable work pattern for women)	8	21
Lack of a better option/job availability	6	16
Childhood dreams/aspirations	4	10.5
Social capital motives (professional prestige, authority, power, status and respect that the public security police carry)	4	10.5
Influences of the police (college) recruitment events at school	2	5
Altruistic motives (helping others and making a contribution to society)	1	2.5
Missing information	4	10.5