Multiracial Feminism: An Intersectional Approach to Examining Female Officers’ Occupational Barriers in Federal Law Enforcement

Abstract

There has been a rise in scholarship targeting women’s experiences in federal law enforcement. Missing, however, are the women of color, as all previous studies capture women as a homogeneous group without regard to race/ethnicity. Using a combined survey dataset from sworn female officers (n = 1,189) employed by two federal law enforcement agencies, this article employs multiracial feminism as a framework to differentiate women’s experiences in the workplace and provides an exploratory analysis of occupational barriers utilizing an intersectional approach to race and gender. Specifically, this study employs an independent-samples t-test to explore the responses between White women and minority women, as well as each minority racial/ethnic group. The findings suggest women of color collectively, as well as individual minority racial/ethnic groups, have varying workplace experiences and perspectives in comparison to White women, especially in response to a perceived glass ceiling to promotions, an inclusive work culture, and experiencing sex discrimination.