Representative bureaucracy and organizational attractiveness

An experimental study of symbolic representation of the US and UK police

Bibliographic Data

ID6366262
AuthorsKaren Johnston (0000-0001-5663-3390, Faculty of Business and Law University of Portsmouth Portsmouth UK, corresponding author), Federica Alberti (0000-0001-5946-5804, Faculty of Business and Law University of Portsmouth Portsmouth UK), Foteini Kravariti (0000-0001-9123-2007, Faculty of Business and Law University of Portsmouth Portsmouth UK)
Year2023
Volume84
Issue2
Pages293-307
Publication date2023-05-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/puar.13675
OpenAlexW4377097915
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited59

Drawing upon representative bureaucracy theory, this study investigates the relationship between passive and symbolic representation by examining the extent to which a more passively representative public organization would be attractive as an employer. The study involved a randomized survey experiment of members of the public in the US and UK. Overall, and contrary to the theory of representative bureaucracy, results show that women found a male‐dominated police department more attractive. The explanation for the results of the study may lie in bureaucratic reputation as a boundary condition of symbolic representation

Attractiveness · Bureaucracy · Political science · Public relations · Representation (politics · Reputation · The Symbolic · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Law · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Sports, Gender, and Society