Watchdog says State Dept. diversity increasing, but not fast enough

The State Department’s workforce has gotten more diverse over the past 15 years, but ethnic minorities are still underrepresented, particularly in the senior ranks, and are less likely than their white coworkers to be chosen for promotions, a top government watchdog says.

A report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that despite the department’s stated commitment to build a rank-and-file reflective of the diverse U.S. population, the department should be doing more to address “barriers to equal opportunity” in its workforce.

“Racial or ethnic minorities in [the State Department’s] Civil Service were 4% to 29% less likely to be promoted than their white coworkers with similar education, occupation, or years of federal service,” according to a summary of the report.

The report itself said the proportion of racial or ethnic minorities at the department in 2018 was 32 percent — a figure lower than the 36 percent found in the total federal workforce.

At the same time, the GAO credited the department with having some success in widening the overall diversity of the diplomatic workforce in recent years.

“The overall proportion of racial or ethnic minorities in the [department’s]… full-time, permanent, career workforce increased from 28 to 32 percent from fiscal year 2002 to fiscal year 2018,” according to the report’s summary, which noted that “the direction of change for specific groups varied.”

“For instance, the proportion of Hispanics increased from 5 percent to 7 percent, while the proportion of African Americans decreased from 17 to 15 percent,” it said. “Also, the proportion of racial or ethnic minorities and women was lowest at management and executive levels.”

The report also noted the department has “identified some barriers to equal opportunity,” but said more should be done to address such issues. For instance, internal reviews by the department have thus far failed to note “discrepancies in mid-career promotion of racial or ethnic minorities relative to whites,” the GAO said.

“Taking additional steps to identify diversity issues,” it said, “could enhance State’s ability to detect and remove barriers to equal participation in its workforce.”