Reports show legislative branch agencies improving leadership diversity

The senior executive ranks of some legislative agencies have become more diverse, according to a summary of reports from inspectors general released on Tuesday.

Between fiscal 2002 and 2007, the five agencies studied all increased the number of women in the Senior Executive Service ranks. The reports looked at diversity in the leadership at the Government Accountability Office, Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Government Printing Office, Capitol Police and the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. At GPO and the Architect of the Capitol's office, the number of men of all races in the Senior Executive Service increased as well.

But Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Federal Workforce Subcommittee, said more should be done to make agency leadership truly diverse. "The summary report paints a slightly more optimistic picture than is warranted," Davis said during a hearing on the issue. "This report is the first of its kind, and it serves as a wake-up call to Congress that it needs to do more to ensure that its own agencies are representative of the people it serves." There are five reports in total, but they have not been released individually. A summary of their findings was presented at Tuesday's hearing.

Texas Rep. Kenny Marchant, the ranking Republican on the committee, noted that the Sept. 16 hearing was the sixth the subcommittee had held on diversity since the beginning of 2007. A November 2007 report by the Democratic subcommittee staff that found there was a smaller proportion of racial minorities in the Senior Executive Service than in the general workforce at GAO prompted the IG reports.

According to the recent findings, the number of African-Americans in the SES increased at the Architect of the Capitol, GAO and GPO; declined at the Library of Congress, and stayed the same at the Capitol Police. The number of Native Americans stayed the same at all five agencies, while the Library of Congress boosted the ranks of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the SES. Hispanics in the SES went from zero to 1 at the GPO.

In the GS-15 jobs or equivalent positions -- considered the most likely hiring pools for the Senior Executive Service -- the five agencies increased the number of women in those jobs between fiscal 2002 and 2007, sometimes dramatically. GAO added 49 women to its GS-15 positions, GPO went from 1 to 23 women, the Library of Congress added 30 females, and the Capitol Police grew from 4 females to 20.

These agencies also increased the number of African-Americans and total minorities in the GS-15 or equivalent jobs, and all except the Architect of the Capitol boosted the number of Asians and Pacific Islanders and Hispanics in those positions.

J. Anthony Ogden, the GPO inspector general, said although the agencies are not required to consider them, he thought it was important to include people with disabilities, and gays and lesbians in the conversation about diversity. Davis said he thought it was important that agencies consider where they might be able to best accommodate disabled employees.

All the IGs provided recommendations to their agencies for improving diversity at the top levels, ranging from expanding the recruiting pool at the Architect of the Capitol to conducting a formal analysis of barriers to promoting a diverse range of candidates at the Library of Congress. Many recommended that their agencies use the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Management Directive 715, which requires rigorous self-assessment of diversity efforts as a basis for future efforts, even though legislative branch agencies are not required to follow that mandate.

GAO in particular has intensified its diversity initiatives after a report by an independent consulting firm concluded that structural and cultural factors at the agency had contributed to disparities in the performance ratings of Caucasian and African-American analysts. But in its annual report to Congress on diversity this year, GAO made data errors and posted the wrong information regarding complaints and discrimination charges to its Web site.

GAO said in its report to Congress on Tuesday that it had identified the sources and was correcting the data error. GAO also is moving to adopt more of the EEOC's best practices for diversity management.

"The bottom line," said Frances Garcia, GAO's IG, "is diversity is good business."