THE REPORT IS BASED ON 12 WEEKS OF DATA GATHERING -PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION, QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEYS, DEPARTMENTAL RECORD REVIEWS -- DURING THE 90TH MICHIGAN STATE POLICE TRAINING ACADEMY. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE RECRUITS IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (E.G., FIREARMS, FIRST AID, REPORT WRITING), OR AVERAGE AGGRESSIVENESS SCORE (ONE OF TWO COMPONENTS OF THE PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE). THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES ON THE AVERAGE ABILITY SCORE (THE OTHER HALF OF THE PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE), BUT THE RELIABILITY OF THE PHYSICAL MEASURE IS QUESTIONED. QUALITATIVE DATA SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT FEMALE RECRUITS WERE, OVERALL, NOT AS PHYSICALLY STRONG AS THE MALE RECRUITS. PRE- AND POSTTRAINING SURVEYS SHOWED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEXES IN PERCEPTIONS OF THE FEMALE TROOPER'S ROLE. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN ROLE PERCEPTIONS DURING TRAINING. MALE RECRUITS ACCEPTED FEMALES IN THE GENERAL AND TECHNICAL COMPONENTS, BUT NOT THE PHYSICAL COMPONENT, OF POLICE WORK. FEMALE RECRUITS FELT THEY COULD PERFORM ALL THREE COMPONENTS OF THE POLICE ROLE. PEER EVALUATION FINDINGS INDICATE THAT MALE RECRUITS DID NOT ACCEPT FEMALE TROOPERS AS THEIR EQUALS. EXPLANATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS ARE EXPLORED, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ARE OFFERED. COPIES OF STUDY INSTRUMENTS, SUPPORTING DATA, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)