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Following are key sections from a GAO report examining demographic trends at the Defense Department over the 10 years ending in 2021.
Our analysis of the composition of the DOD federal civilian workforce by gender and racial or ethnic group from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2021 found that little changed for the representation of women and employees from historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic groups (historically disadvantaged groups). Specifically, the representation of women slightly decreased and that of historically disadvantaged groups slightly increased during that period. Representation of both groups generally remained below the total federal civilian workforce, compared to available OPM-reported data for fiscal years 2012 through 2018. We also analyzed the demographic composition of the GS workforce and found that the higher the seniority, the lower the representation of women and of historically disadvantaged groups.
Representation of Women Decreased Slightly in the Army, Navy, and Other DOD Components
The overall size of DOD’s full-time federal civilian workforce increased by more than 16,000 employees between fiscal years 2012 and 2021. However, representation of women decreased slightly, based on our analysis of DOD data. In fiscal year 2012, DOD’s 721,732 employees consisted of 238,055 (33 percent) women and 483,677 (67 percent) men. In comparison, in fiscal year 2021, DOD’s 737,768 civilian workforce consisted of 236,861 (32 percent) women and 500,907 (68 percent) men. Thus, by fiscal year 2021, DOD employed 17,230 additional men and 1,194 fewer women.
Our analysis of DOD data on new hires and of employees who left in fiscal years 2012 through 2021 similarly suggested that little has changed regarding representation of women at DOD over at least the period we analyzed.
Representation of Women at DOD Remained below Total Federal Civilian Workforce Levels
When we compared representation of women in our analysis of DOD data to that reported by OPM for the total federal civilian workforce from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2018—the most recent OPM data available during our review—we found that representation of women DOD-wide was at least 10.5 percentage points below the federal civilian workforce every year, as shown in figure 7.37 For example, women comprised 43.4 percent of the total federal workforce in fiscal year 2018, compared with 31.7 percent DOD-wide (an 11.7 percentage point difference). Each of the three military departments similarly had levels of women below the federal workforce levels that same year—Army (34.5 percent), Navy (27.0 percent), and Air Force (27.6 percent). The other DOD components had a percentage of women (42.6 percent) that was comparable to the federal level in fiscal year 2018.
Representation of Historically Disadvantaged Groups Increased Slightly in the Navy, Air Force, and Other DOD Components
DOD employed 16,000 more federal civilians in fiscal year 2021 than in 2012. With this increase, representation of historically disadvantaged groups increased slightly. Specifically, DOD had 17,250 more civilian employees from historically disadvantaged groups and about 3,400 fewer White employees.
We also analyzed DOD data to examine demographic characteristics of new hires to DOD and employees who left in fiscal years 2012 through 2021, and similarly found that little has changed regarding representation of historically disadvantaged groups over at least the decade of data we analyzed.
While representation increased slightly for most historically disadvantaged groups in the DOD federal civilian workforce from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2021, representation of Black or African American employees decreased based on our analysis of DOD data.
Specifically, we found that representation of Hispanic or Latino employees and those from two or more races increased by nearly a percentage point in fiscal year 2012 as compared to 2021 (up 0.85 and 0.84 percentage points, respectively). We also found that representation of Asian employees and our other races category increased slightly (up 0.46 and 0.14 percentage points, respectively).44 In comparison, representation of Black or African American employees decreased from 15.44 percent to 14.79 percent (down 0.65 percentage point).
When we compared our analysis of the DOD-wide workforce to OPM reported data for the total federal civilian workforce from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2018—the most recent available—we found that representation of historically disadvantaged groups at DOD was at least 3.8 percentage points below the federal civilian workforce every year.
Representation of Women and Employees from Historically Disadvantaged Groups at DOD Is Lowest at Senior Levels
We found that women and employees from historically disadvantaged groups remained less represented, sometimes substantially, at upper GS grades and at the executive level than their male or White counterparts, respectively, every year from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2021. In general, the more senior the level, the lower the representation for both groups. For example, women’s representation at the executive level in fiscal year 2012 was 23 percent. Women comprised about 63 percent in our combined category of GS-1 through GS-5 grades.
This represents a difference of 40 percentage points between women’s representation at the executive level versus the lowest grades. In fiscal year 2021, while women’s representation in both grade levels slightly increased, there was a 38 percentage point difference between the executive level and lower grades.
Historically Disadvantaged Groups Had Lower Likelihood of Promotion Compared to White Employees from 2012–2021, While Likelihood for Women Compared to Men Varied
We found that, on average, employees from historically disadvantaged groups had generally lower likelihood of promotion than White employees across DOD from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2021, including when we analyzed promotions by individual racial or ethnic category in the DOD data. We also found that likelihood of promotion for women relative to men varied by DOD component and GS grade, and found differences for women and men depending on if they were from historically disadvantaged groups.
Our adjusted analysis of DOD’s civilian workforce data controlled for certain individual and occupational factors other than racial or ethnic group, and gender that could influence promotion. However, our analyses do not completely explain the reasons for differences in promotion outcomes, which may result from various unobservable factors, such as employee skills or performance. None of our analyses established a causal relationship between demographic characteristics and promotion outcomes. However, the analyses can provide insights into whether any differences between promotion outcomes persist even after accounting for certain individual factors, such as length of service and other various control factors.
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