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Glynn, Dee

College of Education and Social Services

2006

M. Ed.

The first woman to enter the police profession was in 1905, in Portland Oregon. In the last 100 years the role of women in policing has grown tremendously, however it has not kept up with the pace of our rapidly changing society. In our own state of Vermont, women hold positions in many local and county agencies as well as in the State Police, as patrol officers, detectives, and in some cases as administrators. In the largest police organization in the state, the Vermont State Police, the growth of the number of women in the department has grown at a painfully slow rate, and the number of women in command positions within the department is well below the national average. In looking at the number of women in the department in contrast to those that are being hired by the State Police, the turnover rate is very high. The department has concentrated heavily on increasing the recruitment of women with recruiting initiatives, but a noticeable fact remains that the retention of women within the department is also a dynamic that plays an integral role in the number of women within the organization. Clearly increasing the number of women that are recruited and hired will not be a sufficient solution if the department can not retain them in the long term. This thesis concentrates on the issues surrounding why women are not remaining with the State Police, and what possible changes the department can make in order to create a work environment in which women can forge a successful career along with their male counterparts.