GAO Examines
Treatment of Women By Vin O'Neill Democratic Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30), David Wu (OR-01), Mike Honda (CA-15) and Lynn Woolsey (CA-06) jointly announced the results of a General Accounting Office study of the treatment of women and minority employees at Department of Energy (DoE) weapons laboratories at a press conference on Capitol Hill on 21 May 2002. Dr. Keith Jackson, President of the National Society of Black Physicists, also participated in the briefing. The study was requested in the wake of the 1999 Wen Ho Lee investigation and focused on concerns about the recruitment, hiring, pay and promotion of women and minorities at DOE weapons laboratories, including Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia. Although GAO found statistically significant differences in some personnel practices at all three laboratories, its findings do not prove or disprove discrimination. In their remarks, all four Members of Congress expressed concerns about under-representation and perceived differences in treatment of women and minorities at the labs. Representative Wu suggested that personnel hiring and promotion practices appear to be controlled by an "old boys network" that is resisting commitments to reforms made by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and his predecessor Bill Richardson. Findings Some 22,000 employees work at the Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. These employees design nuclear weapons, conduct nuclear and non-nuclear research and development and operate the laboratories under contract with the Department of Energy. 65% are employed as managers and professionals. 80% of DoE managers and professionals are white. 10% are Hispanic; 7% are Asian American; 2% are Black; and 1% are Native American. 73% are male; 27% are female. A more detailed data table is appended below. Between 1995 and 2000, the numbers of white men in managerial and professional positions decreased at each of the three laboratories. During the same period, there was a modest increase in minority representation in managerial and professional jobs, but not for each minority at each laboratory. Female and minority staff concerns about equal employment opportunity issues focus primarily on recruitment, pay, promotion and work environment. Some minority staff attribute their low representation in certain jobs to recruiting practices that do not target colleges and universities with large minority populations. Some women and minority staff contend that performance appraisals and ranking systems do not them fairly and result in pay inequities at all three laboratories. Others are concerned about opportunities for promotion into top management positions. Some women and minorities are also concerned about what they describe as a lack of sensitivity to cultural and gender differences at the laboratories. Asians, in particular, cited a hostile work environment and speculated that their opportunities for promotions, choice job assignments and training are limited in an atmosphere of suspicion. GAO Recommendations In order to understand the implications of statistical differences and to evaluate their significance, GAO recommended that the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, determine their causes and take corrective action to address any EEO problems that may be identified. To ensure that DoE and OFCCP work together to achieve EEO compliance at the laboratories, GAO also recommended that the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Labor explore ways to develop and implement: 1) a more formal collaborative relationship to facilitate the sharing of information and expertise and 2) an effective means for monitoring and assessing EEO compliance. The Department of Energy and the Department of Labor generally agreed with the findings in the GAO report and promised to collaborate to improve employment practices at the laboratories. The Department of Energy has pledged to take corrective actions to ensure that all employees - regardless of their gender or ethnic background - receive equal treatment at all of its facilities, not just the three labs investigated by the GAO. NSBP Concerns The National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) has long been concerned about the small number of African Americans with career scientific appointments at DoE laboratories and by lack of participation by historically black college and university students in DoE funded physics research programs. Of the 3,201 Ph.D. physicists employed at the 13 DoE funded national laboratories, only 11 are African Americans. NSBP has recommended that DoE require its contractors to perform verifiable recruitment efforts at NSBP and National Society of Hispanic Physicists meetings and maintain outreach programs at historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic serving institutions. IEEE-USA Perspectives IEEE-USA is reviewing the GAO report and has not taken a position on its findings or the GAO's recommendations. However, IEEE-USA has long standing positions emphasizing the importance of equality in the workplace and condemning all forms of workplace discrimination. IEEE members, including members employed in the national laboratories, are bound by a Code of Ethics which directs them to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age or national origin. In addition to promoting these ethical standards within our membership, IEEE-USA actively supports the recruitment of women and minorities into the fields of engineering, where they are woefully under-represented. IEEE-USA invites member comments and suggestions. Contact Vin O'Neill at v.oneill@ieee.org. Managerial and
Professional Staff Composition
The full text of the GAO report entitled DoE Weapons Laboratories: Actions Needed to Strengthen EEO Oversight (GAO-02-391) is available online at www.gao.gov. Information on the National Society of Black Physicists is accessible at www.nsbp.org. | Top of Page | Policy Forum | IEEE-USA | Last updated:
02 May 2005
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