Women and minorities continue to be under-represented in the senior executive ranks in comparison with the federal workforce and with the American workforce as a whole although the gap continues to narrow, according to the latest OPM data.
Said OPM, “The SES is 11.8 percent Black, 4.4 percent Hispanic, 3.2 percent Asian, 0.2 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1.2 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.6 percent Non-Hispanic/Multi-Racial. In addition, women now make up 33.9 percent of the SES, which is a 0.2 percent increase from FY 2013.”
In comparison, overall the federal workforce is 18.1 percent Black [OPM’s term], 8.4 percent Hispanic, 5.6 percent Asian, 0.4 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1.7 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.2 percent Non-Hispanic/Multi-Racial, and 43.2 percent female.
The gain in representation of women in the executive ranks occurred even as the share of women in the federal workforce fell by 0.3 percentage points from 2013; it is down 1 percentage point from 44.2 percent in 2009.
Among the largest two minority groups, the percentage of Hispanics was up by 0.1 percentage points over 2013—and up by 0.4 percentage points from the 8.0 percent level of 2009; and the percentage of Blacks also rose by 0.1 points over 2013 and is up by 0.3 points from the 17.8 percent level of 2009.
In contrast, a Labor Department measure called the Civilian Labor Force shows the overall workforce is 10.4 percent Black, 14.6 percent Hispanic, 4.8 percent Asian, 0.3 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.5 percent Non-Hispanic/Multi-Racial, and 46.1 percent female.
