Women Scientists in Industry and Government How Much Progress in the 1970's?: an Interim Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (1980) / Chapter Skim
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WOMEN SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
WOMEN SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Pages 25-38
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From page 25... ...
In this section we will examine employment data on men and women scientists in the federal government for 1974 and 1978. The data were obtained from the Office of Personnel Management's computerized files and include the entire population of interest rather than a sample.
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From page 26... ...
Since Federal managers tend to fill top jobs almost exclusively from within, the paucity of women in the "feeder grades" makes it extremely unlikely that the supergrade situation for women will improve markedly so long as we hold to present staffing habits. Hard data such as these explain why the Federal Women's Program (FWP)
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TABLE 2.1 Number and percent women among scientists and engineers in the federal government by field, 1978 All degree levels Field*
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TABLE 2.2 Percent women among doctoral scientists and engineers in the federal government, 1978, and percent in the total labor force Ph, , D.s in Field of federal government Total labor force*
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scientists and engineers in the federal government by sex, 1974 and 1978 (Ph.D.s only) 1974 1978 Grade Men Women Men Women <11 5.4 13.0 6.3 18.2 12 16.4 21.8 16.4 26.0 13 31.0 33.4 28.9 29.3 14 23.5 20.0 25.0 16.4 15 18.4 10.0 19.3 8.4 16-18 5.1 1.9 4.2 1.7 Since women comprise relatively more of the recent hires, it is worthwhile to control by age in comparing their grade distribution with that for men.
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From page 30... ...
FIGURE 2.1 Percent grade distribution ol scientists and engineers in the Federal Government by age and sex, 1978. 40 r Men Age 30-34 Women LU 30 o 5 20 o cc S 10 20% 23% <10 11 12 13 14 >15 <10 11 12 13 14 >15 GRADE Men Age 35-39 Women 40 -- LU 30 _ u i < l Z
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scientists and engineers who were employed in the federal government in both 1974 and 1978, and (ii) those hired since 1974.
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4 Z 45. OZ GS 12 3,785 182 29.2 30.8 GS 13 4,283 132 20.7 22.0 GS 14 2,370 34 19.0 35.3 GS 15 1,377 16 4.5 18.8 Bioscientists GS 11 898 180 46.3 39.4 GS 12 1,103 133 37.3 33.9 GS 13 1,204 84 28.3 19.0 GS 14 645 35 21.3 25.7 GS 15 336 8 8.0 0.0 In the physical sciences and biosciences -- the two largest groups of scientists in the federal government -- the relative rates of promotions of women were favorable, except at the lower levels, where men moved up faster.
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From page 33... ...
TABLE 2.8 Salary increases for full-time staff 1974-1978: scientists and engineers in the federal government Average annual Median salaries, 1974 Median salaries, 1978 increase (%) Age in 1978 Men Women Men Women Men Women Under 30 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50 and over $11,860 15,980 20,370 23,140 24,510 26,000 $10,860 15,690 19,190 20,290 20,750 22,200 $21,300 24,790 28,070 32,090 32,770 33,770 $20,800 24.540 26,580 27,830 28,750 30,100 15.8% 11.5 8.3 8.5 7.5 6.8 17.6% 13.0 8.5 8.2 8.5 7.9 33
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NOTE: Includes only those employed in the federal government in both 1974 and 1978. New Hires Between 1974 and 1978 about 5,900 women scientists and engineers were hired into the Civil Service, accounting for 13 percent of the new accessions.
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From page 35... ...
scientists and engineers hired into the federal government since 1974, women account for only about 8 percent of the total, although they are more than 16 percent of the recent doctorate-holders (Table 2.11)
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82 Mathematicians/statisticians 9.2 11.7 Computer specialists 0.0 9.3 Physicists 4.0 4.9 Chemists 8.1 11.2 Other physical scientists 4.7 7.4 Engineers 1.3 1.9 Agricultural scientists 3.7 5.7 Bioscientists 11.3 23.4 Social scientists 15.5 26.8 Status of new hires Examining the new accessions by highest degree earned and years since degree, it is evident that a woman scientist is typically hired at a lower grade than a comparable male (Table 2.12)
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From page 37... ...
Summary and Discussion The federal government is a relatively minor employer of scientists and engineers, and the difference between the proportions of male and female scientists in government employment is much smaller than in industry. Nonetheless the disparities found -- in grade levels and therefore salaries -- closely parallel those in industry, with one major exception.
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From page 38... ...
For example, the analyses do not indicate to what extent the women scientists may have interrupted their careers in order to care for children and what impact this may have had on their long-term advancement in the government. A study of matched-pairs of men and women scientists in federal careers would offer the possibility of clarifying this issue.
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