Advocacy group says women not moving up the federal ranks

A new report from the advocacy group Federally Employed Women says the hiring rate of women for top federal jobs has stagnated in recent years.

From 1992 to 2003, the percentage of women in the Senior Executive Service rose from 12.3 percent of the cadre to 26.2 percent. The number of women in the higher grades of the General Schedule and at senior pay levels also increased.

But since 2006, this upward trend has been slowing significantly, according to FEW. From 2006 to 2007, women's representation in the SES increased by less than half a point to 29.14 percent, despite the fact that women made up 44 percent of the federal ranks. By 2009, the percentage of women in the SES had increased only marginally to 29.95 percent.

"Women in the federal workforce still are experiencing discrimination, as well as a lack of adequate mentoring and training opportunities to successfully move up through the ranks of the federal government," the report said.

FEW said the presence of women in the SES and at the senior grade levels should be the same percentage as women's representation in the federal workplace overall. The group also called the current growth rate of women in the SES "absolutely unacceptable."

Members of the group cite a lack of training as a major impediment to promotions for women. One of the challenges is that the government often does not permit workers in the lower ranks to participate in upper-level training because they are not in management jobs, the report said. FEW has administered several programs that allow women at all GS levels to take any job-related classes and workshops.

FEW also cited mentoring as crucial to helping female federal employees advance. But there are no formal mentoring programs specifically for women in the federal government, and the relatively small pool of senior female leaders also means fewer potential mentors.

"Women need to have leaders to whom they can ask questions, obtain advice about their careers, receive suggestions on career moves, training needs and special project assignments, and obtain general information about the process of moving up the career ladder," the report said.

FEW recommended agencies provide incentives for senior managers to establish, endorse and participate in mentoring programs.