Hispanic Hiring: A New Approach

(Published in the Federal Times, October 16, 2006)

After executive orders, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Office of Personnel Management reports, multiple-point plans, and articles in the media addressing Hispanic underrepresentation in the federal sector for the last 35 years, along comes the Government Accountability Office with a report on Sept. 20 with a new twist to this challenge. While acknowledging the Hispanic underrepresentation, the GAO staff concluded that the causes of this hiring challenge were the low citizenship rates and educational attainment of Hispanics [“Why it’s hard to hire Hispanics,” Oct. 9 issue]. I could not disagree more with these conclusions.

All groups have members who are not U.S. citizens. Hispanics do not have a monopoly in this category. Why pick on the only group that remains underrepresented?

It is unrealistic to think that out of 42.7 million Hispanics (as of July 1, 2005, according to the Census Bureau), selecting officials can’t find enough qualified Hispanics to recruit for 2.7 million federal jobs. Moreover, not all federal jobs have an educational requirement. According to the 2005 OPM Fact Book, the professional category within the white-collar population comprises 26.9 percent, and is the only category that requires an undergraduate or higher degree. This means that 73.1 percent of federal jobs do not have an educational requirement, and that job experience is an acceptable substitute.

More importantly, the GAO report indicates that 45 percent of Asians have bachelor’s and graduate degrees, while only 29 percent of whites do. Based on the conclusions in the GAO report, one could assume that Asians would be better represented in the federal work force than whites. Nevertheless, according to the EEOC’s Annual Report on the Federal Workforce for fiscal 2005, 85.66 percent of Senior Executive Service positions are occupied by whites, compared with only 3.39 percent for Asians. Thus, applying the same “multivariate logistic regression model” that GAO used in its report, one could assume that educational attainment is not sufficient for Asians to break the glass ceiling.

We do not need one more task force or blue-ribbon commission to study this challenge. Similarly, we do not need one more OPM, EEOC, Merit Systems Protection Board or GAO report to state the obvious. What we desperately need is enlightened leadership, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic, to move beyond the finger-pointing and take proactive steps to remedy this issue. If the federal government should look like the face of America, it is time to roll up our sleeves to come up with solutions — not excuses.

I agree with Gilbert Sandate, chairman of the Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government, who retired from an SES position at the Library of Congress this summer, that Hispanics getting SES jobs in the federal sector is comparable to climbing Mount Everest. According to an August report by the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, the Hispanic representation for career SES positions has decreased from 2.5 percent in 2001 to 2.3 percent in 2005.

Since it is at the SES level where decisions are made and budgets are approved, increasing the Hispanic representation in the SES ranks should be the top priority. Hispanics who are already in the SES ranks should lead by example by mentoring GS-15 Hispanics who are trying to climb Mount Everest. This is a challenge that all groups have a responsibility to help out to ensure that the federal government lives up to its goal of becoming a model employer and the employer of choice for all Americans.

Roland Roebuck

Washington, DC

Rolroebuck@aol.com