Demographic Perspectives

While government- and organization-wide numbers can tell us a lot about the federal workforce, they do not provide a complete picture. Therefore, to offer both federal leaders and job candidates a fuller view, Best Places analyzes 2007 results across several demographic groups for each organization. These results show parity across agencies, but also identify some gaps.

Some Parity, but Some Gaps

The 2007 Best Places government-wide rankings by demographic group again this year show consistency across gender and age. Specifically, women enjoy a marginally higher satisfaction index (61) than men (60). Employees under the age of 40 scored slightly higher (63.2) than those 40 and over (61.5). 

However, among racial/national origin groups there are gaps. Employees who classify themselves as Asian were most satisfied (66.7, five points above the government-wide average of 61.8), followed by Hispanic (64.3), white (62.2), African-American (61.3), Native American (59.2), and multi-racial, a new category (51.9).

Looking Closer at Individual Agencies

Results for individual agencies also show gaps. While parity between females and males is high in most organizations (a total of 27 large and small agencies have a five point or less difference), there are exceptions where the male-female differences are quite dramatic. This is true in the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Department of Transportation, and Social Security Administration, where females’ overall satisfaction index scores are more than 10 points higher than males’ scores. On the other hand, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission both show males as substantially more satisfied (+10.5 and +12.5 points, respectively) than females.

Agency scores by age group also reveal differences. Eleven agencies show differences of five or more points between employees younger than 40 and those 40 or older. Eight show higher scores for the younger group, and three agencies show higher scores for the “40 and overs.” The largest discrepancies where younger employees are more satisfied are in the Social Security Administration and the National Credit Union Administration (8.2 and 7.6 points respectively). Agencies where the over 40 group has higher scores include the Department of Housing and Urban Development (+8.6 points) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (+7.7 points). 

An analysis of large agencies by race and ethnicity shows that Asians have the highest satisfaction index scores in 16 large agencies, Hispanics in seven, and African-Americans in four (Department of State, Air Force, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of Personnel Management). Employees who designated themselves as white ranked highest in two agencies (National Archives and Records Administration and Nuclear Regulatory Commission).

Model Agencies

Further agency-by-agency analysis reveals agencies that scored consistently well among multiple demographic groups. For example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission scored number one in five demographic categories — males, employees younger than 40 and 40 and older, African-Americans and whites.

Employees at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Government Accountability Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission ranked their agencies in the top five for eight of the 10 demographic categories. The Department of Justice made five appearances in the “demographic top five.”

Other top-ranked agencies are State (women), Treasury (Asians), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Hispanics).

 

© 2007 Partnership for Public Service