Abstract

Physical fitness standards have long represented a key element thought to influence the representation of women in policing. Prior research using secondary data examined failure rates at police academies. Survey studies asked police officers about their viewpoints on physical fitness standards. Importantly, these studies focus on preexisting differences and inequalities, not the perspectives of potential applicants. Using a sample of 993 Amazon mTurk respondents, this project uniquely examines how experimentally manipulating the lack of discussion of a physical fitness test for admission, as well as a universal-normed test, and a gender-normed test, influence potential applicants’ job interest. The study findings indicate interaction effects between woman status and the universal physical fitness standards for male and female applicants, with significantly lower job interest for each of the four outcome variables. These findings have policy implications for police recruit diversity and physical fitness standards at the application stage.

摘要

长期以来，身体健康标准一直被认为是影响女性在警务中的代表性的关键因素。先前使用二手数据的研究调查了警察学院的失败率。调查研究向警官询问了他们对身体健康标准的看法。重要的是，这些研究关注的是先前存在的差异和不平等，而不是潜在申请人的观点。该项目使用 993 名亚马逊 mTurk 受访者作为样本，以独特的方式检验了如何通过实验操纵入学体能测试、通用标准化测试和性别标准化测试中缺乏讨论，影响潜在申请人的工作兴趣. 研究结果表明，女性身份与男性和女性申请人的通用身体健康标准之间存在交互作用，四个结果变量中的每一个变量的工作兴趣都显着降低。这些发现对申请阶段的警察招募多样性和身体健康标准具有政策意义。