The Relationship of Gender on the Perceptions of School Resource Officers regarding Roles,Responsibilities,and School Culture and Collaboration

Abstract

School resource officers (SROs) play a critical role in establishing a safe learning environment for students across the nation. Although there are several studies related to SROs’ perceptions regarding their roles and responsibilities, a thorough literature review found no studies that looked specifically at the relationship of SROs’ gender to their perceptions. This study involved 53 SROs across three municipalities along the East Coast. Among several findings, one is that while the officers seem satisfied overall with their duties, gender does seem to have a relationship with the amount of time that they spend participating in these duties and in their satisfaction related to them. Recommendations to school superintendents and principals include recognizing the potential advantage of selecting female SROs to serve on their campuses and establishing districtwide policies to annually assess the level of job satisfaction among SROs assigned to schools.