White Women and Latinos Underrepresented in Federal Workforce

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
(photo: Office of Personnel Management)

White men continue to dominate the ranks of the federal workforce, while white women and Latinos hold fewer jobs than they should compared to their overall representation in the U.S. population. Of the 2.8 million federal workers, 55.9% were men and 44.1% were women last year (women make up a little more than half of all Americans). In terms of ethnic representation, whites make up 72.8% of the civilian work force and held 65.6% of federal positions, while blacks, 10.5% of the civilian work force held 18% of federal jobs, and Latino federal workers represented only 7.9%,of the federal work force even though they constitute 10.7% of civilian workers.

 
White women make up 33.7% of the civilian labor force, but only 26.6% of the federal work force. African-American women, on the other hand, are only 5.7% of the civilian labor force, but 10.3% of the federal work force. White males account for 39% of both the civilian and federal work forces.
 
The latest figures also show that among General Schedule salaried federal employees, men earn an average of $6,000 a year more than women. Discrepancies also showed up by race. The average salary for Asian federal General Schedule employees was $49,604; whites $46,598; Latinos $45,044; African-Americans $40,949; and Native Americans $40,783.
-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff
 
Hispanics, White Women Remain Underrepresented in Federal Offices (by Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive)
Annual Report on the Federal Work Force Fiscal Year 2009 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Comments

Roger 12 years ago
Let's see. White males rule! right? Then why are Asians overrepresented and white males not? Could it be because Asians have a cultural respect and desire for education which makes them more qualified for Federal jobs than the others? Could it be that white males really don't rule anything and even the federal government is subject to market forces (like assuring competency) when hiring? Male culture, female culture, Asian culture, Black culture, White culture, and Hispanic culture generally have different values for education and attitudes toward work, not that every one, or even most in those groups are stereotypical. But it's true enough to explain differences in Federal employment stats. Hire the best regardless of gender or ethnicity. That's truly American.
john 13 years ago
It is quite ironic that the FedHRXpert can list false facts (Hispanics have highest # of Best Qualified from any group) when that information is not reported. No hiring official has the ethnic, racial, or gender identification of applicants that have been referred to him/her. Isn't that great news when listing whites as the 5th best in BQ? By volume alone of the number of people in this country by percentage and the Department of Education showing This just shows the true colors of the writer which is discriminatory in his or her portrayal. With the absolute emphasis on Hispanic hires to all hiring officials from every agency, by shere natural reaction to that emphasis if there were BQ in the pool, there would be significant additional hires. Before this "Fed HR Expert" spouts false information and demands that the EEOC get involved, take alook at the statistics from the Civilian Labor Force which unbelievable counts non citizens for Hispanics. That is ludricuous since non citizens for the most part cannot be hired by the Federal government. If it were just Hispanic citizens applying for positions, the percentage of hires would actually be above the CLF. Latinas are dropping out of school in alarming numbers. Forty-one percent of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years—if they graduate at all. Of Hispanic adults 20 and over in the United States, 41% do not have regular high school diplomas.The most significant problem is among foreign-born Hispanics. Of foreign-born Hispanic adults, 52% are dropouts and may not know about the GED or how to get it. Only 5% of foreign-born Hispanic adults without a high school degree earn a GED. In 2008, this population was over 17 million, and the numbers keep growing. Whether or not is through their own fault or no fault of their own, not a whole lot of BQ in those groups.
Disgusted 14 years ago
First, I am a hispanic female and I have never been given a preference in hiring due to my ethnicity. I actually went to college and got a BA in Accounting. At the time, I was married, had children, worked part-time, attended college and graduated Cum Laude. I had more skills coming into the gov't than half the people here(not all minority I might add) so keep your racists beliefs to yourself. I can give you 20 examples of people who have risen through the GS system here who did only because of favoritism and because they are white. I have never received any type of welfare, but I have met some people here who claim to have disabilities and receive part of their retirement pay from the Gov't tax free. Oh, I know, that's different. Quit beating on your chest because half of you have been on the Gov't gravy train since the dawn of time. Get used to us Latinos because we are here to stay!!! In fact, many of us were here first!
welfarejobs 14 years ago
Latinos may be 11% of the civilian work force but how many of them actually have a social security number, a birth certificate, or the ability to pass a background check to get even a public trust level of clearance? Therein lies the problem. Don't worry though, they'll soon be issuing Top Secret clearances to Mexican nationals to do away with this tragic injustice of "under-representation." I hear those Latino politicians out in California are doing quite well for themselves, what with granting themselves and their family members million dollar salaries for part time jobs.
FedHRXpert 14 years ago
Actually,Hispanics as a group have the highest # of Best Qualifieds(BQs)per selection than any group. applicant data show Hispanic men & women have the highest numbers of BQs per selection than any group yet have the lowest selection rates per BQs of all groups. This is why Hispanics remain underrepresented. EEOC needs to conduct in-depth reviews on the root causes of why Hispanics, with the most BQs are not being selected. Hispanic women have the highest number of BQs per selection and the lowest ratio of selections per BQs followed by African American women, followed by Asian females, followed by African American men with the 4th highest number of BQs per selection followed by(and yes, this is surprising)White women who have the 5th highest number of BQs per selection. Current hiring reforms should include transfer of federal AEP programs from EEOC to MSPB or GAO who should be able to provide needed technical advice to agencies that EEOC has not in over 30 years.
grunt 14 years ago
underrepresented - typical leftist thinking and why they US is in such bad shape both government wise and economically, we hire according to quotas and not to the ability to do the job. Welfare hiring and the government is hard at it. Why do you think it took BO 3 trys to hire a leader for TSA. The white guy is the only one with the ability experience and honesty to run an agency. When you put a black in charge they are eventually kicked out for corruption, moral turpitude and jailed. Rangel is a fine example just took longer ....than usual.
National Whistleblower Allen Carlton 14 years ago
In the American(Postal)Holocaust the plan of Executive Order 12871 and the National Partnership Council(NPC) continues to be reduce government and government spending. The Government is still we the people. Deny until you die. Death fix it (deficit).
White Woman 14 years ago
The most glaring part of this report is that the Government needs to change the affirmative action plan. It looks like White are underrepresented (love to see the white males percentages), Blacks are overrepresented and as for Hispanics, the number is probably skewed due to the number of illegal aliens in the country (11 to 20 million). I think a more thorough look at the figures would be warranted.

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