Female police officers in Ireland: challenges experienced in balancing domestic care responsibilities with work commitments and their implications for career advancement

Abstract

This paper resulted from a study which gave voice to female police1 officers who work full-time and try to combine this with their domestic caring responsibilities by focusing on their perceptions of work, their domestic caring responsibilities and their aspirations for career advancement. It was based on ten semi-structured interviews, with officers who work in urban and rural police stations in the North West of Ireland. Results established inequality in the top echelons of the Garda Síochána; through self-exclusion; officers experienced promotional disadvantage as well as disadvantage with regard to how domestic responsibilities were managed. Findings suggest a need for change both in orginanizational and work policies for female police in Ireland.This paper discusses caring responsibilities and the effects of same on female officers. Keywords: female, police, caring, policy, officers.