WASHINGTON — Thousands of State Department employees reported experiencing workplace discrimination in a recent internal survey.
About 44% of Foreign Service officers and civil servants who responded to the survey said they were discrimination in the workplaceWhile another 27% said they had experienced harassment, including sexual harassmentThe wall street journal reported on Thursday.
According to the report, approximately 8,600 department personnel took part in the study – almost a third of the total workforce.
The results were reported 23 days after the department released “essential components” of its five-year Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan, which is meant to “ensure that we have representation of the American people overseas.” Best team to do.”
The plan asked the State Department to set recruitment and retention targets for a “diverse workforce” as well as “establish concrete measures to promote greater inclusivity for women, employees with disabilities, LGBTQI+ employees, and religious, racial, and ethnic minorities.” asked me to do.”
The initiative was the result of an executive order dated June 25, 2021, which called on federal agencies to establish procedures to increase diversity and inclusion.
President Biden said at the time, “This order establishes that it is my administration’s policy to develop a workforce that draws from the full diversity of the nation … and to pursue these priorities in the federal workforce.” establishes additional procedures for
But the results of a State Department survey showed that the problems persisted after more than a year – and less than half of low- and middle-level workers indicated they believed they had a problem, according to the Journal. Leadership has a strong commitment to change.
Diversity has been a “longtime” issue at the State Department, the Government Accountability Office said. In a report released on 22 July of this year that called on the agency to “improve workplace diversity.”
a 2020 sing report found that racial minorities were underrepresented in the department “particularly in the senior ranks”.
“Racial or ethnic minorities in the state’s civil service were 4% to 29% less likely to be promoted than their white peers with the same education, occupation, or years of federal service,” the document said.
This year’s report praised the department for its strategic planning and appointment of a chief diversity and inclusion officer, but criticized it for failing to ensure accountability among leadership.
“Nearly 70 percent of organizations surveyed by GAO indicated that the state does not hold managers and supervisors accountable for their progress toward achieving diversity and inclusion goals,” the report said. “Without ways to measure progress and increase accountability, the state cannot achieve its goal of promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace.”
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday morning.