Tuesday, January 24, 2023: U.S. GAO Published Report on Strengthening “DEIA” in the Federal Civilian Workforce
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a two-page “snapshot” report to discuss its work from 2017-2022 on the federal Government’s goal to be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). The federal Government is the nation’s largest employer. Pursuant to Executive Order 14035, federal Government agencies must strive to cultivate a workforce that draws from the full diversity of the nation. In the snapshot, the GAO highlighted selected findings and recommendations it made between 2017 and 2022 to enhance DEIA in the federal workforce.
First, the GAO found that agencies had mixed success in increasing workforce diversity. For example, the Intelligence Community’s workforce saw increases in proportions of minorities, but did not meet federal availability benchmarks. Moreover, specific groups at the United States Agency for International Development were underrepresented in promotions. The GAO recommended that these agencies work to enhance accountability for DEIA workplace goals.
Second, the U.S. Department of State told the GAO it is planning to develop performance measures for DEIA-related goals and was taking additional steps to identify diversity issues that could indicate potential barriers within its workforce. The GAO recommended that the State Department establish performance measures for DEIA-related goals and develop processes to evaluate progress.
Third, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers found that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) veterans may experience higher rates of depression and more frequent thoughts of suicide. However, the GAO reported that the VA does not collect the necessary data to analyze the health of the LGBT veteran population. Also, VA medical centers are unable to readily identify and address disparities in health care outcomes by race and ethnicity due to data limitations. The GAO recommended that the VA consistently collect data to better assess health care outcomes. The VA is still working to address data issues with LGBT veterans and has improved racial and ethnicity data.
Graphic: Limitations with VA’s Race and Ethnicity Data
Fourth, the GAO found that while the pay gap between men and women in the federal Government is smaller than in the entire U.S. workforce, pay disparities still exist. The GAO also found that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) analysis of agencies’ pay gap data and data on promotions by gender, race, and ethnicity was incomplete. The GAO recommended that EEOC assess the quality of the promotion data it collects and address data discrepancies, which recommendations EEOC has implemented.
Fifth, from FY 2016-2018, Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) employees filed at least 230 discrimination complaints. While FAMS adopted an action plan to address discrimination allegations, it did not fully implement the plan. The GAO recommended that FAMS reaffirm and strengthen efforts to prevent discrimination.
Sixth, the overall number of persons with disabilities hired by agencies increased between fiscal years 2011-2017. However, large numbers of persons with disabilities depart federal employment within 2 years. The reasons they do so are unclear because of a lack of data. The GAO recommended that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) track and report additional retention data, a recommendation which OPM has implemented.
Graphic: The Number of Persons with Disabilities Hired by the Federal Government, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2017
Prior GAO Report Identified Nine DEIA Practices
The GAO snapshot also referred to its 47-page report in early 2005 that identified nine leading diversity management practices. Explanations and examples of these practices as implemented in various federal agencies are included in the pages of the report as referenced to in the parentheticals below. The nine practices are:
- Top leadership commitment—a vision of diversity demonstrated and communicated throughout an organization by top-level management (pages 7-8);
- Diversity as part of an organization’s strategic plan—a diversity strategy and plan that are developed and aligned with the organization’s strategic plan (pages 8-9;
- Diversity linked to performance—the understanding that a more diverse and inclusive work environment can yield greater productivity and help improve individual and organizational performance. This practice is often referred to as an organization’s business case for diversity (pages 9-10);
- Measurement—a set of quantitative and qualitative measures of the impact of various aspects of an overall diversity program (pages 10-12);
- Accountability—the means to ensure that leaders are responsible for diversity by linking their performance assessment and compensation to the progress of diversity initiatives (pages 13-15);
- Succession planning—an ongoing, strategic process for identifying and developing a diverse pool of talent for an organization’s potential future leaders (pages 15-18);
- Recruitment—the process of attracting a supply of qualified, diverse applicants for employment (pages 18-19;
- Employee involvement—the contribution of employees in driving diversity throughout an organization (pages 19-23; and
- Diversity training—organizational efforts to inform and educate management and staff about diversity (pages 23-26).