SAVING A SEAT FOR A SISTER: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF WOMEN REACHING TOP POLICING EXECUTIVE POSITIONS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Graduate School of Leadership & Change Antioch University In partial fulfillment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Nicola Smith-Kea ORCID Scholar No. 0000-0003-2527-2937 September 2020 SAVING A SEAT FOR A SISTER: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF WOMEN REACHING TOP POLICING EXECUTIVE POSITIONS This dissertation, by Nicola Smith-Kea has been approved by the committee members signed below who recommend that it be accepted by the faculty of the Graduate School in Leadership & Change Antioch University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth Holloway, PhD, Committee Chair Lize Booysen, DBL, Committee Member Dorothy M. Schulz, PhD Committee Member ii Copyright © 2020 Nicola Smith-Kea All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT SAVING A SEAT FOR A SISTER: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF WOMEN REACHING TOP POLICING EXECUTIVE POSITIONS Nicola Smith-Kea Graduate School of Leadership & Change Antioch University The world of women in law enforcement is a thought-provoking one that has received increasing attention both in academia as well as in practice over the past few decades. Even more intriguing, and despite advances in the profession, is the low number of women in executive leadership positions in law enforcement. There is a vast underrepresentation of women in top executive leadership positions across the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the complex journey of women to top executive policing leadership positions. Embracing a positive psychology approach, the study used grounded theory in combination with situational analysis to answer one overarching question: What have been the experiences of women leaders in policing as they have progressed in the profession to executive rank? This allowed for a comprehensive exploration of the micro, or individual level factors, alongside the meso or macro factors, encompassing larger group interactions, social structures, and institutions, that from the women’s perception had been critical in their leadership experiences. The study offers a theoretical model—A Web of Intersections—as a framework for understanding the complex journey of women, and the social processes and multiple intersections they have learned to navigate that can in combination, help them to advance to top executive policing leadership positions. The women in this study are agentic and not simply following the lead. They are active, deliberate, and intentional iv participants in their own journeys, making critical and strategic decisions that can gain entry to policy decision-making that can result in sustainable change. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ Keywords: Grounded Theory, Situational Analysis, Executive Leadership, Policing Culture, Women in Policing, Intersectionality, Equity, Inclusion v Dedication To my maternal grandmother (Nene) and my maternal grandfather (Dada) who have both transitioned: I thank you for bringing into the world the woman I call mommy, ma’am, Joanie, Justice, Rev. This study is dedicated to my mommy Joan. Mommy, you represent a significant role in my life and on this PhD journey. Because of you, mommy, I am who I am today. You represent woman as leader, and with resilience and drive you ensured that your children understood the importance of self-respect and of achieving beyond all odds. With that resilience, you ensured that we understood the role of education in becoming a better person, a more caring person, a person who would give back to a society that needed care and love. Thank you, mommy! vi Acknowledgements Who I am today and what I have been able to achieve was because of the shoulders of those I was able to stand on to discover my own truth, while building on the lessons of others who have gone before me. This dissertation journey would not have been possible without the strength and resilience of the group of “badass” women who made it to top executive leadership positions in policing. I want to start by thanking the participants in my research, who so graciously and willingly accepted to be a part of this journey with me. To the 21 women, I thank you for sharing your own unique but complex journeys to positions of power and influence. It was truly an honor, a privilege, and an absolute pleasure to be in your presence, learning from you. I entered into this journey knowing the number of females in executive leadership positions in policing was miniscule. I also knew that there were women, who despite the odds, got to the top in this very White, very male, very conservative profession. I thank you all for being authentic and open with me, trusting me to tell a part of your story. Our journey together continues beyond this research. To my research buddies Danielle and Greta, who were integral to the success of my analyses, thank you for your time, support, advice, encouragement, and insightful thinking. None of this would have been possible without the love, patience, and support from my dear husband Howard. At every step of the journey, you were right there with me, by my side, nudging me along and reminding me that I got this! To my darling son Tyler. Thank you for your patience and for your super special hugs and for asking every now and again about how the writing of my “book” was going. Thank you, my darlings, for being my towers of strength throughout this journey. Thank you both for being my shoulders to cry on, and for the constant vii words of encouragement, reminding me that I could, and will do this, reminding me of the many lives I was about to change, to empower, to help guide to a path of leadership. To my parents, Joan and Roy, and to my siblings, Paula, Karen, Phillip, Karl, Natalee: I could not have done this without your love and support of my perpetual studying through the years. My brother Karl swears that I will be in school for my entire life; I prefer to call it life-long learning. Karen, thank you for reading through the chapters and providing feedback or asking questions that would help me to better articulate the points I was trying to get across. To Kristin Bechtel, my dear friend and colleague who I adopted as my mentor, thank you for your continued support and encouragement, reminding me I can do this. To my Antioch sisters and friends, Yolandé Devoe and Angela Quitadamo, thank you for being there with me on this journey. Our consistent check-ins, writing sessions, providing advice and support to each other on our respective dissertation journeys provided that extra push that was needed at times. We did it! We stuck With Each Other To The End (WEOTTE), as promised. Thank you! Dr. Anderson, or aunty Pat, my long-time academic mentor and friend, thank you. Dr. A. had vested interest in the growth and development of her graduate students and cleared the path for us to become future leaders. She played a significant role in my life as mentor and life coach while I journeyed through my numerous graduate programs, this one included. My entry, positioning, and journey in the PhD in Leadership and Change Program is a unique one, one that will be written in another fun book at some point in the future. This journey is special to my heart and has allowed me to embrace who I am as a Black assertive female who grew up in a world where women are still not regarded as equals, and in large part, still not respected and honored for what they bring to the table. To the faculty and staff at Antioch who have helped me along my journey of growth as a strong leader, I say a huge thank you! Each of viii you have added in some way to who I am today and have helped me to achieve what seemed to have been an unsurmountable feat. To Philomena Essed, Jon Wergin, Mitch Kusy, Laura Roberts, Carol Baron, Aqeel Tirmizi, Deb Baldwin, Stephen Shaw, Elaine Gale, Harriet Schwartz, Margaret Morgan, Leslee Creighton, Wendy McGrath, and Jen Swartout, thank you. To Laurien Alexander who was my academic advisor for a large part of my life in this program, our journey transcends my existence in the program, and you will forever hold a special place in my heart. I could not have been here without you. I could not have done this without you. Thank you. I want to thank Elizabeth Holloway, who took on the role of my academic advisor, chaired my committee, and was my methodologist. I thank you for your patience and grace throughout this journey. Your guidance and calm communication, your emails and words of encouragement kept me going at times when I needed it most. To Lize Booysen and Dorothy Schulz, I thank you for your willingness to be on my committee. I thank you for your guidance and authenticity throughout this process. It was greatly appreciated. ix Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................