Women Making Progress in Breaking Glass Ceiling

The glass ceiling for women in the federal workforce isn't the barrier it used to be, according to a new report from the Merit Systems Protection Board. But it hasn't completely disappeared.

The report, Women in the Federal Government: Ambitions and Achievements, concludes that in the past two decades, "the federal government has made substantial progress in hiring and advancing women in the federal workforce." More women now hold professional and administrative jobs, which provide the greatest opportunities for advancement, and the increase in the percentage of women in the executive ranks has exceeded projections in a landmark 1992 MSPB study of women in the federal workforce.

Women now hold 44 percent of professional and administrative positions in government, and make up about 30 percent of the Senior Executive Service. They are about as likely as men to be promoted.

MSPB's analysis of promotion rates "supports a belief that the prevalence and force of stereotypical assumptions about the abilities and appropriate roles of women have greatly diminished," according to the report.

Still, the report noted, women remain less likely than men to be serving in high-paying jobs and supervisory positions. And their numbers are relatively low in certain key professions, such as law enforcement, information technology and engineering. Also, women are less likely to be hired when agencies fill positions from the outside, rather than promoting from within.