Abstract:

In South Africa, women make up over 52% of the growing population. The empowerment of women into leadership positions in Metropolitan Police Departments is essential to support the changing social life of the nation. The purpose of this study is to examine women leadership in Metropolitan Police Departments in South Africa. Participant were 25 female in leadership positions in three Metropolitan Police Departments namely Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province. The question posed in this study was: Why women leaders would want to become in a male dominated industry, particularly in a deeply traditional and patriarchal society such as South Africa? In order to answer this question qualitative method was used. Data was collected by means of the individual interviews. Data was analysed using Atlas.ti. Findings revealed that women needed to gain more knowledge in order to be on top, improve themselves in the career, bring change, and provide a safe and supportive environment for nurturing confidence, acquiring new skills as well as be educated. Findings also showed barriers to appointment of women in senior leadership position. This study has also found that there are policies and legislation that are currently being implemented to ensure entry of women into fields that have always been viewed as male-dominated. It is recommended that women who join Metropolitan Police Departments empower themselves and be educated in order to be appointed in the leadership position. It is crucial that the Metropolitan Police Departments comply with the expectation, law and legislation of the industry in the democratic government with regard to the involvement of women in leadership position in the work place.

Keywords:

Women, leadership, education, Metropolitan Police, policies, legislation.