The EEOC has said that as part of its oversight of how agencies are carrying out equal employment opportunity laws it is preparing reports on diversity within the SES and the effectiveness of anti-harassment programs.
The makeup of the SES has been a longstanding issue, with women and minorities under-represented in comparison with their percentages both in the federal government and in the American workforce as a whole. That has led to a series of initiatives over a decade and more, aimed at increasing the diversity in leadership developmental programs that serve as a pipeline into the SES.
According to the most recent OPM report, the SES was 66 percent male in 2014, compared with 69 percent in 2010; the federal workforce is 43 percent female and the overall workforce 46 percent. Similarly, while the American workforce is 14 percent Hispanic and the federal workforce is 8 percent Hispanic, the percentage in the SES is just 4 percent. And while the federal workforce is 18 percent black/African American and the overall workforce 10 percent, their share in the SES is 11 percent.
In addition to SES representation and anti-harassment policies, the EEOC has said it continues to review agencies’ recruitment and hiring practices, including use of “Schedule A” authority for persons with certain disabilities, as well as the accommodations they make for those with disabilities.
