Part tt 7

Management Department

University of Otago

Paula Rose

Submitted as Partial Requirement forPostgraduate Diploma in Commerce

October 2001

Contents

Acknowled ements

'-'1gures

Tables

1.0 Eacilground

1.1 Introduction 11.2 Career: 'What is a career anyway?' 31.3 Career theory: 'Taking a traditional view' 31.4 Contemporary discourse: 'Changes reflecting a changing World' 61.5 Working women 81.6 Working mothers: 'Balancing life or a trade-off?' 91.7 Part-time work: 'A growth industry' 101.8 Human capital theory: 'What return on investment?' 11

2.0 The Current Study2.1 Background of women in the New Zealand Police 142.2 Organisational structure 152.3 Part-time work 172.4 Representation of women 182.5 Women in policing: 'A global focus' 19

3.0 Research Design and Methodology

3.1 Research question 213.2 Research approach 223.3 Interviews 243.4 Questionnaires 263.5 The subjects 273.6 Response rate 283.7 Participant contacts 283.8 Ethical considerations 293.9 Limitations of approach 30

4.0 Results

4.1 Introduction to results 314.2 Age and gender of respondents 31

4.3 Service levels and experience of respondents 32

4.4 Specialist work 33

4.5 Children 35

4.6 Childcare and relationships 36

4.7 Time spent working part-time 36

4.8 Why part-time work? 374.9 How many hours? 384.10 Return to full-time employment 394.11 No part-time option 414.12 Training and education 424.13 Value of part-time work 434.14 Perceptions of career 444.15 Part-time role 464.16 Effects of part-time work 494.17 Promotion 52

5.0 Discussion

5.1 Why do policewomen choose part-time work? 55

5.2 What is the return for the individual on investment madein terms of training, education and experience for workingmothers? 57

5.3 Are policewomen working part-time concentrated inspecific areas of work? And are there any reasons for this? 61

5.4 Are part-time workers and women who have worked part-timeproportionately represented at all levels and in all areas of theorganisation? 63

5.5 Changes in career perceptions 69

6.0 Conclusions 71

7.0 References 74

AppendicesI. DefinitionsII. Semi-structured interview promptsIII. QuestionnaireIV. Information sheetV. New Zealand Police Flexible Employment Policy

Acknowledgements

Writing this dissertation has been a journey. A journey with more than a few false

starts, wrong turns, and quite frankly more than one breakdown. Overcoming

obstacles has not been easy but finally the end is in sight and it is timely to express

my appreciation to those who have helped along the way.

My heartfelt thanks to Dr Mary Mallon who graciously gave of her time and

knowledge to act as my supervisor. Knowing the demand placed on her time makes

me appreciate her help all the more.

I extend my thanks to the participants who gave of their time to take part in this

research. Indeed my sincerest thanks to the many . friends and colleagues in the New

Zealand Police who have assisted in this project. Special mention needs to be made

of the great work of the New Zealand Police Women's Consultative Committee, in

particular Alison Gracey, Shane Collins, Catherine McEvedy, Gail Gibson and Dawn

Bell.

I wish to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the love, confidence and

support of my parents Letitia and William Young. I am sorry that my father is no

longer with us to celebrate this achievement. Without you both I would never have

made it. Thanks for everything.

Finally, but most importantly, thanks to my husband Scott. He has borne the brunt of

the good times and the bad. In the later weeks of writing this dissertation there were

quite a few bad. Thanks Scott, your quiet support and unending confidence in me

means a lot.

Figures

Figure P.Ige

Figure 1 'The coming terror – New Zealand's Police-woman' 14

Figure 2 Child care responsibilities 36

Figure 3 Time spent working part-time 37

Figure 4 Number of hours worked 39

Figure 5a Resigned if no part-time option – women 41

Figure 5b Resigned if no part-time option -- men 41

Figure 6 Changes in career perceptions 45

Figure 7 Role change from full-time to part-time work 48

Figure 8 Negatives from working part-time – women 50

Figure 9 Positives from working part-time – women 51

Figure 10 Maximising people and performance 68

Tables

• Tb!e Page

Table 1 Sworn staff by rank 16

Table 2 Gender representation by rank 19

Table 3 Status and response rates for questionnaires 28

Table 4 Distribution of respondents by age/gender 32

Table 5 Service levels of respondents 32

Table 6 Applications for and membership of specialist squads 33

Table 7 Respondents with children 35

Table 8 Reason for part-time work 38

Table 9 Reason for return to full-time employment 40

Table 10 Value of part-time work 43

Table 11 Entry career expectations 45

Table 12 Method of obtaining part-time role 47

Table 13 Change in work roles from full-time to part-time 48

Chap_

round

1.1 Introduction

The Equal Pay Act 1972, Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987,

Human Rights Act 1993 and associated legislation to protect the rights of working

women, combined with social pressures, encourage the women of today to pursue

careers at the same time as raising a family.

The overall purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between

parenthood, part-time work and careers for women within the context of the New

Zealand Police. This research poses the following questions:

I. Why do policewomen choose part-time work?

H. What is the return for the individual on investments made in terms of training,

education and experience for working mothers?

III. Are policewomen working part-time concentrated in specific areas of work?

And are there any reasons for this?

IV. Are part-time workers and women who have worked part-time proportionately

represented at all levels and in all areas of the organisation?

Researching literature on the impact of absences from work caused by childbirth

followed by a return to work on a part-time basis exposes a vast array of material. To

limit the scope of this review each major topic had been identified and the research

examined and assessed. The following theoretical background focuses firstly on

career literature, looking at historical foundations of career theory through to

contemporary discourse. Secondly, research on working mothers, including the

absences caused by childbirth, will be examined. Following on from this, the

consequences of part-time work on career involvement are examined in light of

historical and contemporary research. Human capital theory provides a lens to view

areers of part-time workers and an overview of literature is presented.

The review of literature uncovers some data on the effects of absences caused by

childbirth and part-time work. This dissertation examines the effects of part-time

work on women's careers within the contextual framework of police. New Zealand

Police has a closed labour market with a rigid promotional structure and hierarchy.

As such the organisation fits with the traditional objective approach to career in a

society where contemporary career discourse is dominated by alternative ways of

looking at careers. The New Zealand Police utilises an internal labour market and

this makes the issue of part-time work quite different from most organisations. It is

the combination of these factors that makes finding the answers to the questions

posed by this study a challenging discovery.

The research journey that is contained in this dissertation commences with a

discussion about what the concept of career means. The development of career

theory is traced before looking at the role of women as members of the workforce,

particularly in relation to part-time work. Following the review of literature in this

area, an overview of human capital theory is given as this is used later in this work as

a means of analysing the return on investment of a part-time worker for the individual

and employer. The New Zealand Police is the context for this research and to allow

an appreciation of the research issues an overview of the organisation has been

provided in chapter two. Chapter three provides details of the research methodology

used, including the rationale for this approach. The data collected from the research

was substantial and an overview of the results obtained forms chapter four. The

research data has been analysed and chapter five provides this analysis linked to the

research questions posed at the beginning of this work. Finally the journey ends with

a number of conclusions that result from the analysis and discussion phases of the

research. This is presented in chapter six.

2

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