Men make up 86.7% of the police workforce in the United States (https://datausa.io/profile/soc/333050/#gender). Growing up, children are often unconsciously influenced by symbolic representations of occupations in the media as they form their dreams and aspirations for their future lives. In a perfectly equal world, more men than women may still decide to be police officers, but more depictions of female officers in the media including in symbolic representations, may allow girls more freedom to imagine themselves as police officers.
While the effect of such symbols may seem very subtle, a lifetime of these cues can lead to really big differences in the choices that people make. More freedom of job choice and freedom from arbitrary (and unconscious) social influence is a good thing.
Anonymous
Men make up 86.7% of the police workforce in the United States (https://datausa.io/profile/soc/333050/#gender). Growing up, children are often unconsciously influenced by symbolic representations of occupations in the media as they form their dreams and aspirations for their future lives. In a perfectly equal world, more men than women may still decide to be police officers, but more depictions of female officers in the media including in symbolic representations, may allow girls more freedom to imagine themselves as police officers.
While the effect of such symbols may seem very subtle, a lifetime of these cues can lead to really big differences in the choices that people make. More freedom of job choice and freedom from arbitrary (and unconscious) social influence is a good thing.