Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXVIII, Organization and Management of Foreign Policy

185. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Equal Employment Opportunity (Pinckney) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management (Moose)¹

Washington, March 2, 1977

SUBJECT

• FSO Promotions—Comparison by Sex

Last year was the first year in which the Department made a careful statistical analysis of FSO promotions by sex—largely in response to charges of discrimination against women FSO’s. We intend to make the annual analysis a regular management tool in assessing our EEO posture.

Tab A provides a 1976–7 comparison and Tab B provides details on the 1977 list.² Last year (1976) was better for women in several ways:

• —Total women promoted of women eligible was 27.3% in 1976 vs. 13.5% in 1977 (for men, 19.3% this year vs. 19.7% last year).
• —At all class levels except 4 to 3, 1977 percentages for women are down (for men, all down except 3 to 2 and 4 to 3).
• —In all cones except Political, 1977 percentages for women are down (for men, all down except Program Direction, Political, and Specialists).

Yet, in all of our evaluations, above and below, we must remain aware that some statisticians will dismiss certain conclusions as invalid because women at certain levels and in certain categories are statistically too insignificant to be meaningful—e.g., among eligibles for promotion from 2 to 1 there were only 4 women vs. 232 men.

Nevertheless, our critics are likely to seize upon all figures and may be most inclined to attack Average Age data. By class, except for one instance (1977 6 to 5), women promotees are older than men which to some viewers is evidence of a historically slower promotion rate for women. A similar pattern emerges By Cone.

The Time-in-Class data on the surface offers some encouragement for women. Messages in recent years from the Deputy Under Secretary for Management and the Director General to Selection Boards, encouraging attention to the promotion of women, may explain the reduction of time-in-class.

We are in the process of reconstructing data on minority FSO’s and hope to provide you with similar comparisons in the near future.

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Records of the Under Secretary for Management (M), 1977–1978, Box 2, Chron March 1977. No classification marking. A copy was sent to Laise.
2. Not attached.