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8 J. Ethnicity Crim. Just. 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/wecj8 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal ofEthnicity in CriminalJustice, 8:1-17, 2010 Routledge Copyright 0 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Taylor& Francis Group ISSN: 1537-7938 print / 1537-7946 online DOI: 10.1080/15377930903583046 Policing in Korea: Why Women Choose Law Enforcement Careers BITNA KIM and ALIDA V. MERLO Department of Criminology, Indiana University ofPennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA Although women account for over 50% of employed persons in South Korea, women in policing comprise approximately 3.8% ofall sworn law enforcement positions throughout the country. Clearly, women are underrepresented in policing in many countries, but the relatively small number in law enforcement careers in Korea provides an opportunity for research about the demographic and attitudinal factors that motivate them to pursue such a career. In this study, we focus on a sample of 220 Korean female police officers. The present study sought to address 3 central research ques- tions: (a) the background of the respondents, (b) the major reasons for career selection expressed byfemale police officers, and (c) the relationship of years in policing to the reasons for the respondents' career selection. Results suggested that women are in policing not only because it is an exciting profession but also because they feel that they have the ability to do the job and do it well. These data illustrated the importance ofsurveying women in order to enhance the recruitment and retention offemale law enforcement officers. KEYTERMS Policewomen, Korea, career INTRODUCTION Historically, law enforcement has been viewed as men's work (Garcia, 2003; Hong, 2005; Kakar, 2002; Lord & Friday, 2003). Police work is dif- ferent from female-dominated occupations in a variety of ways. There is Received June 2009; resubmitted October 2009; accepted October 2009. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, March 2009. Address correspondence to Bitna Kim, Department of Criminology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 411 North Walk, Wilson Hall G-17, Indiana, PA 15705. E-mail: bitna.kim@iup.edu 1