but the major portion of their lower position remains un explained by educational attainment. (Table 7, p.248). Nonblack minorities Nonblack minority professionals in the Department have about the same level of educational attainment as all professionals. Comparing the average salaries of nonblack minority professionals with all professionals with the same level of education does not appear to explain the lower salary of these employees. p. 248). Women (Chart 16, p. 58; Table 7, 38 The educational attainment of female professionals in the Department is somewhat lower than that of all professionals. A larger proportion of women professionals, percent, than of all professionals, 27 percent, have up to a high school degree. On the other hand, the percent of women with undergraduate or graduate degrees, 44 percent and 19 percent, respectively, is slightly smaller than the segment of all professionals with these degrees, 50 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The difference in the average salary of women compared to all professionals with comparable education, 16 percent, is nearly as large as the disparity that exists when education is not taken into account. The age of professional employees in the Department does not appear to shed any light on the underutilization of minorities and women. Among professionals, the average age of blacks, nonblack minorities, and women 43 years, and 42 years respectively - 41 years, is slightly below the Department's average, 44 years. One item of interest is the high age of professionals in the entry level grades On a rough scale, an additional factor that might explain the lower status of minorities and women could be their concentration in the administrations and regions with lower grade structures. BLS has the lowest average salary for professionals which is 20 percent below the average for professionals in the highest salaried administration, SOL. Among regions, professional employees in Chicago have the lowest average salary which is 10 percent below the average earnings of professionals in Kansas City, the highest salaried region. Other than the under-representation of blacks in SOL, minorities and women do not appear to be concentrated in the administrations and regions with lower. (Table 8, p. 249). grade structures. Another factor to consider is the distribution of em ployees between the National Office and the Field. The National Office has a higher grade structure, as the average salary of professionals there is 8 percent greater than for professionals in the Field. Blacks and women professionals Field. are heavily concentrated in the National Office, while nonblack minority professionals are mainly employed in the Three-fifths of all black professionals and twothirds of women professionals work in the National Office, while over four-fifths of the nonblack minority professionals are employed in the Field. The large segment of nonblack minority professionals in the Field accounts for about half of the 5 percent salary difference between nonblack minority and all professionals, Nationwide. 201 (Tables 1, 20/ This is derived by calculating the average salary of nonblack minority professionals assuming that they were distributed between the National Office and Field as are all professionals, and comparing this salary to that for all professionals. Time-in-grade data provide a static view of the mobility of minorities and women, and give a rough indication of the availability of these employees to advance into the next higher grade. In terms of mobility, the time-in-grade data disclose how recently employees have been promoted to their present grade. Most relevant, examining the number of employees who have time-in-grade of less than a year shows the number of various groups of employees who have entered each grade over the last year. This gives the "entry rate" the percent of employees promoted into - or hired at a particular grade over the last year. The entry rates of different groups of employees at each grade together with their turnover rate determines whether one group will increase or decrease their representation. Assuming constant turnover, minorities and females need to have a greater rate of entry than all employees at a particular grade in order to increase their representation at that grade. Examining the rates of entry, holding turnover constant, shows the implications of the number of hires and promotions on the utilization of minorities and en.21/ women. In addition to rates of entry, the time-in-grade data provide a rough indication of the availability of minorities and women to progress into the next higher grade. Blacks The implications of rates of entry on the utilization 22/ of black professionals are shown in Chart 17. The chart shows a "+" for the grades in which minorities and women have achieved parity and a "_" for the grades at which these employees are under-represented and have made no progress, or have lost ground toward gaining an equitable representation. At the grades where minorities and women have made gains over the last year, the chart shows the time that it would take to achieve parity, based on the rates of entry that prevailed over the last year. The time-in-grade data for blacks show that they have not been entering the grades where they are under-repre sented at a rate which would enable them to increase their 21/ Rates of accession and turnover by race or sex are not available in the Department. 22/Page 65. |