@StateDept Dumps Online the 2015 FS Promotion Statistics Including Diversity Data, Have a Look!

Posted: 1:08 am ET
Updated: 8:41 pm ET
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]

On May 16, we posted that Congress is set require the State Department to report on diversity recruitment, employment, retention, and promotion.

It turns out that the State Department has dumped online its 2015 FS promotion statistics, including one by diversity and another by diversity and cone (career track). We don’t know when these stats were posted online; only that one set is dated April 18,2016, another set dated March 31, 2016, and a third document is listed as dated January 2015. How did we miss the announcement?

We haven’t had time to go through them in detail  – we just saw them today — but have a look!  We should add that  S.1635 Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act, Fiscal Year 2016 was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent on April 28, 2016. The Congressional reporting requirement if passed, would include reporting for three fiscal years preceding the report date and every four years thereafter.

-04/18/16   FS Promotion Statistics |  Foreign Service Promotion Statistics for 2015

-04/18/16   FS Promotion Statistics by Diversity

-04/18/16   FS Promotion Statistics by Diversity and Cone

-03/31/16   Department of State – Diversity Statistics Full-time Permanent Employees
-03/31/16   HR Fact Sheet: Facts about Our Most Valuable Asset – Our People
-01/23/15   Public Law 113-499: Initiatives to Increase Workforce Diversity in the Department of State

 

#

 

 

@StateDept Launches Gender Mainstreaming Assessment, and Let’s Give These Folks a Poke, Hey?

Posted: 2:58 pm EDT
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]

 

Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources (D-MR) Heather Higginbottom and the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Cathy Russell (S/GWI) recently announced the “first-ever Department Assessment on the Implementation of the Secretary’s Gender Guidance” (18 FAM 003).  The assessment will reportedly be conducted by Department contractors Dynamo Technologies, and its subcontractor, Blue Compass, LLC.

Some background:

In June 2014, Secretary Kerry released policy guidance on “Promoting Gender Equality and Advancing the Status of Women and Girls” which expands upon the previous gender policy released in 2012 (18 FAM 003).  Together, the two outline guidance for integrating the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of the status of women and girls into the full range of Department planning and activities. The Gender Integration Assessment will focus on the four key areas of Department operations as identified in 18 FAM 003: 1) Strategic and Budget Planning, 2) Management & Staffing, 3) Monitoring& Evaluation, and 4) Training & Knowledge Management.

What can you expect?

In support of this assessment, Department leadership is asked to designate key focal points in offices and bureaus who will work with Dynamo and Blue Compass to present on efforts in the aforementioned four key areas.  D/MR and S/GWI are reportedly asking for full cooperation in providing the assessors access to personnel and documents — as relevant and appropriate — to facilitate their work.

“In addition, S/GWI will consult with bureaus to identify up to 50 missions that will provide the representative sample of how the Secretary’s Gender Guidance is implemented overseas.  A separate communication will then go to those missions identified to introduce Dynamo’s work.  In coordination with the regional bureaus, the contractors will then visit a sampling of these missions to assess gender integration in the four areas noted above.  The contract companies are charged with interviewing key personnel from embassies, consulates, offices, and bureaus and will also conduct surveys of Department employees.  A separate notice will go out to inform employees about this survey.”

These contractors will provide recommendations to Department senior officials based on this assessment on diplomatic engagement efforts undertaken since 2012 in support of the gender guidance, identify challenges to implementation of the policy guidance, and provide recommendations to build on successes and best practices.

The internal announcement says that for  additional information on the Secretary’s Gender Guidance, to please see 14 STATE 38129 and 18 FAM 003. Look it up!

18 FAM 003 is behind the firewall and we could not find the secretary’s gender guidance but the Office of Global Women’s Issues did issue the U.S. Department of State Policy Guidance: Promoting Gender Equality and Advancing the Status of Women and Girls dated July 3, 2014.

A side note — what else is behind the firewall?  Lots, but don’t forget — the State Department’s promotion statistics by gender and race, as well as its breakdowns by grade level for FSOs and specialists by gender and race, are still behind the firewall.  Any good reason why the State Department continues to put its gender and ethnicity/race promotion data beyond public reach? We heard through the grapevine that there is legislation pending in both Hill and Senate to force the Department to publish these statistics. We gotta look that up.  Also, go read Patricia Kushlis in More than undiplomatic moments: State’s diversity record remains behind a hard line.

Okay, back to — below is Dynamo Technologies via USASpending.gov

Screen Shot

 

Related posts:

#

 

 

 

 

 

@StateDept Talks Gender and Diversity, Yay! Promotion Stats By Gender/Race Still Behind Firewall, Not Yay!

Posted: 1:05 am EDT
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]
.

.

.

.

.

Things are going great but … all these news and wonderful talks and the State Department’s promotion statistics by gender and race, as well as its breakdowns by grade level for FSOs and specialists by gender and race, are still behind the firewall.

Any good reason why the State Department continues to put its gender and ethnicity/race data beyond public reach? Is there a specter hiding under Foggy Bottom’s bed?

And now this:

#

2014 Foreign Service Promotion Results By Gender & Race Still Behind the Great Firewall of State

Posted: 1:05 am EDT
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]

 

The April 2015 issue of State Magazine includes the 2014 Foreign Service promotion statistics: a “modest decrease” in overall promotion rate it says:

Due to the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative (DRI) and Diplomacy 3.0 hiring efforts, Foreign Service hiring surged in the first decade of the 2000s. These employee cohorts are currently moving into the mid-ranked positions and above, intensifying the competition between employees for promotions. Although the total number of promotions increased to record levels over the past few years, the overall promotion rate decreased as the total number of promotion-eligible employees increased more rapidly. As a result, the overall 2014 promotion rate for all eligible Foreign Service employees experienced a modest decrease to 21 percent, compared with 22 percent in 2013 and 24 percent for the five-year average.

HR has made available online, behind the firewall, the 2014 promotion results by gender and ethnicity/race along with detailed breakouts by grade level for each generalist cone and specialist skill group. They are available at: http://intranet.hr.state.sbu/offices/rma/Pages/DiversityStats.aspx.

Details on Foreign Service promotion planning and promotion trends can also be found at: http://intranet.hr.state.sbu/Workforce/ WorkforcePlanning/Pages/default.aspx.

Ugh! Not again.

Yup, not only is this behind the great firewall, they put it in the “Sensitive But Unclassified” page so they can yank anyone who wants to pass this information out to us or anybody who is in the public sphere.

Last year, somebody in Secretary Kerry’s staff told us he’d take a look and see what can be done.  That’s the last we’ve heard of it and follow-up emails just went into dead email boxes. To this date, we have not learned of any legitimate reason why the detailed breakdown on gender and race in Foreign Service promotions are protected information.

The state.gov’s career website includes the following statement on diversity and inclusion from Secretary Kerry:

 In order to represent the United States to the world, the Department of State must have a workforce that reflects the rich composition of its citizenry. The skills, knowledge, perspectives, ideas, and experiences of all of its employees contribute to the vitality and success of the global mission. Our commitment to inclusion must be evident in the face we present to the world and in the decision-making processes that represent our diplomatic goals. The keys to leading a diverse workforce successfully are commitment and persistence. Delivering strong and effective action requires every employee’s commitment to equal employment opportunity principles. To that end, I pledge that at the Department of State we will: Propagate fairness, equity, and inclusion in the work environment both domestically and abroad…

But that commitment apparently does not include publicly sharing the Foreign Service promotion statistics by gender and race.

#