Abstract of "Chapter 8-Promoting Careers in the Federal Government"
Author(s):
Linda Skidmore Dix
This chapter discusses the initiatives set up by the federal government to address the recruitment and retention of women and minorities.
Introduction
Dix indicates that efforts by the federal government to recruit women have been somewhat limited although their numbers in the U.S. talent pool have been increasing. The employment of women scientists and engineers by the federal government varies according to discipline, but statistics show that women make up only 10% of the Science and Engineering (S&E) PhDs employed.
Initiatives of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
The federal government set up the OPM to establish initiatives to assist in the recruitment of individuals. Some of these initiatives are:
Training and Development within OPM
The OPM has also sponsored government wide programs specifically for the development of women scientists and engineers. These are:
- Women's Executive Leadership Program To provide training and preparation for future opportunities in federal management.
- Executive Potential Program To assist women, scientific and technical specialists to move into management positions.
- Legis Fellows Program To assign women to congressional offices as part of their management training.
Agency Specific Objectives
The author quoted Majorie L. Budd's (chief of policy and curriculum
initiatives division in the OPM's office of Employee Development Policy and Programs) outline of the characteristics common to the federal government's successful recruitment programs. These were:
- The programs were all part of the organization's strategic business plan.
- They incorporate scientific leadership and human resources leadership.
- They were developed to create upward career paths for women and minorities.
- They were located in areas of critical need where project work creates a sense of accomplishment.
- They had flexibilities built in to provide for two-career families and domestic considerations.
Each department within the federal government has designed their own data collection systems and intervention programs to deal with these personnel issues.
US Department of Energy (DOE)
Prior to 1990, when the DOE conducted a review of its programs, the DOE had no programs aimed specifically at increasing the number of women in the technical work force. During the review, women scientists and engineers were able to address concerns that permeated many of the labs, with the focus on educational outreach and career advancement. From the programs implemented, those that were effective had four common characteristics:
- Effective recruitment of qualified female candidates.
- Strong networking and mentoring programs.
- Movement of women into management and senior scientist positions.
- Arenas for the expression and discussion of areas of concern.
Recruitment and retention programs have been implemented within the DOE, e.g. the Women in Science
Program Initiator at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). This program is designed to give formal recognition to the lab's Women in Science Program. The office is involved in educational outreach and upward mobility of ANL's R&D women.
Other Federal Agencies
Federal agencies such as the Department of Defense (DOD), and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have instituted programs for recruitment and increased retention of their S&E work force. These interventions include:
- fellowships and scholarships for advanced training of employees.
- leadership workshops and seminars.
- benefit packages to meet individual needs.
The Glass Ceiling
Despite these interventions women still encounter glass ceilings that keep them out of the top level positions. The CSWE conference participants said that the following factors must be put in place to divert this trend:
- Involvement of and open communication among all levels of staff.
- Flexibility in job descriptions.
- Delineation of the differences between job description and job performance.
- Mentoring by senior executives.
- Continuous monitoring and evaluation of interventions.
- Dissemination of evaluation results.
Future Directions
More pro-active steps should be taken to recruit and retain more women in science and engineering. The conference participants proposed:
- assessment of all federal agencies' recruitment and retention rates.
- the design of strategies that facilitate networking and mentoring among women scientists and engineers.
- the highlighting of model programs such that other agencies can make use of them.
- taking steps by working with management to counteract glass ceilings and glass walls against women by management.
Linda Skidmore Dix, study director for the National Research Council's Committee on Women in Science and Engineering