Career plateau among prison police officers in western China: a cross-sectional study

Background: Career plateau reflects perceived limits on career advancement or meaningful work development. This study examined career plateau and its associations with work-family conflict, perceived organizational support, and occupational characteristics among prison police officers in western China. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 720 prison police officers (mean age = 42.27 ± 10.01 years; 72.6% male) from 10 prisons in western China. Career plateau, work-to-family conflict, perceived organizational support, and perceived social support were assessed using standardized self-report measures. Group differences were examined using comparative analyses, associations among variables were evaluated using Pearson correlation analyses, and factors associated with career plateau were identified using multiple linear regression. Results: The mean overall career plateau item score was 2.92 (SD = 0.71), with 40.14% of participants scoring above the scale midpoint of 3. Of its two dimensions, promotion stagnation was more pronounced than position marginalization. Overall career plateau was positively correlated with work-family conflict (r = 0.61, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with perceived organizational support (r = -0.53, p < 0.001). Greater work-family conflict, poorer relationships with supervisors and colleagues, and lower perceived organizational support were associated with higher overall career plateau and both dimensions. Longer police tenure and greater family burden were additionally associated with greater promotion stagnation. Conclusions: Among prison police officers in western China, promotion stagnation was more pronounced than position marginalization. Career plateau was associated with greater work-family conflict, poorer workplace relationships, and lower organizational support, while longer police tenure and greater family burden were specifically linked to promotion stagnation. Predictable rostering, supportive supervision, transparent promotion criteria, and lateral or specialist career pathways may help address these concerns.