Leadership Studies Commons^™

The Pathway Forward: Uncovering The Barriers Faced By Women Police Chiefs, Michael Llamas, Amor Roma, Tianshi Hao, Wendy Perkinson, Kayleigh Axtell, Anshu Lal, Jesse Llamas

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Women have encountered many obstacles in their quest to gain leadership in law enforcement. While research has studied how well women officers strive to achieve higher-level positions within police departments, the challenges women face when they gain top leadership roles remain largely unexplored. This research paper will discuss the unique challenges faced by women police chiefs, drawing from first-hand experiences of women police chiefs and existing literature. The study finds that women police chiefs encounter challenges in communication, transferring to a new department, overtasking, introvertedness, and general police chief stress. The study also finds that women police chiefs implement ways …