Abstract
Purpose. Our knowledge of barriers to the advancement of African Americans into executive positions and the critical success factors that have contributed to the progression into the upper echelons of work organizations is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of select variables upon the career paths of African-American law enforcement executives. Theoretical framework. This study draws upon concepts embodied in three separate theoretical models: human capital and social capital resources, and critical race theories. The first two concepts are relevant to the extent and pace of advancement to and through executive organizational positions while the third is directly relevant to the career paths of African Americans. Methodology. The study design is correlational and descriptive in nature. An author-constructed survey instrument was nationally distributed to African American law enforcement executives from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (N = 224). In addition, semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of the study population (N = 6). Descriptive statistics and Spearman rank-order correlations were used to analyze and compare data. The results from the interviews were used, where applicable, to supplement the results of the survey. Findings. Age and current job status, including command responsibility, were significantly correlated. As executive levels increased, age became increasingly positively related to the length of time it took to get to that level. This finding suggests that older members of the sample took longer periods of time to achieve senior and command positions. Other than age, the strongest predictors of current rank were, in order of magnitude: (1) extent of specialized on-the-job training from junior executive level to command positions, (2) level of formal educational attainment, and (3) having a mentor. This same order was replicated in the likelihood of holding a command position. Recommendations. Based on the results of this study, continued attention to discriminatory treatment is warranted. Further, as the advancement of minority police officers is an underresearched field, more studies need to be conducted on the factors that impede or accelerate the advancement of minority officers into the executive ranks.