Equal Employment Opportunity: Women Bureaucrats in Male‐Dominated Professions

Abstract The public sector prides itself on being a place where women and other marginalized groups can find shelter from workplace discrimination . Still , gender inequities are evident in the public sector workforce . In this article , interview data from city managers and police officers highlight the gendered internal organizational processes , arrangements , and interactions that impact women's experiences in male‐dominated roles . Despite seemingly equal opportunities to access and engagement in these bureaucratic roles , the findings suggest that women constantly face gendered barriers and boundaries that directly impact their experiences on the job and their work‐related outcomes . Legislative and administrative remedies are not sufficient to eliminate gendered experiences of women in male‐dominated roles . Rather , a cultural change from within the workplace is vital to realize the efforts of civil rights laws established more than 50 years ago .