Inequalities Rampant Among the Dod and Associated

Inequalities Rampant Among the DOD and Associated Agencies: An Analysis of Affirmative Action Efforts in the Military and Civilian Workforce

There have been numerous initiatives in recent years targeted at eliminating discrimination and under-representation among minorities and the disabled in the civilian workforce. However within the Department of Defense/Navy and other branches of the military, there is still a discrepancy of representation with regard to minority candidates. Today the DOD is working together with multiple agencies in order to establish affirmative action oriented recruitment, retaining and promotions programs that will specifically attract minority and disabled candidates, in an attempt to eliminate the discrepancies that currently exist with regard to representation. There have been numerous articles and reports that have analyzed the DOD's and Navy's combined efforts to improve representation, two of which are closely examined below.

Analysis of DOD and Civilian Workforce Initiatives

There is ample evidence that suggests that up until recent years the military has done little to resolve under-representation among the civilian workforce and among official staff. However of late there have been numerous initiatives that have particularly focused on reversing previous under-representation particularly among minority and disabled populations. It appears that both in the civilian and in the high ranking workforce, agents are discovering that the more diversity that exists, the better for everyone.

The Department of Defense issued a directive in 1987 with the intent of establishing a Civilian Equal Employment Opportunity Program, whose initiatives included affirmative action that was consistent with guidelines set forth by the EEOC and Office of Personnel Management (DOD, 2003). The directive also established special emphasis employment programs for the following groups: women, Hispanics, people with disabilities, people of Asian/Pacific Island descent, Indian/Alaskan Natives and an African-American employment program. The directive was instituted in part to help recognize a need for equal opportunity programs and affirmative action programs as "essential elements of readiness that are vital to the accomplishment of the DOD national security mission" (DOD, 2003).

The objective of supplemental programs include implementation of affirmative action programs to improve the representation in the civilian workforce of minorities, women and people with disabilities (DOD, 2003). The initiative clearly shows that the DOD is aware of past inequalities and is currently working to prohibit discrimination that is prohibited by law, which includes discrimination of an individual on the basis of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, mental or physical disability and age (DOD, 2003).

Part of the push to pass such initiatives include recent realizations that there are many groups within the military and civilian workforce that are under-represented. Often the reasons for lack of representation include inadequate recruitment and retention methods (Bowling, 1995). For minority candidates to acquire adequate representation, they must first be pursued with the same vigorous enthusiasm that has been traditionally flowered upon potential candidates for DOD/Navy and other agency positions.

In a related article, the DOD including branches of the Army and Navy are actively working to recruit minority candidates on campuses across the nation (Sample, 2003). Whereas in times of old recruitment programs were more generic and broad reaching in nature, modern society and past inequalities dictate that the DOD and other agencies must actively work to recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds. As such the DOD and other agencies are fine tuning their EEO programs and implementing affirmative action type recruitment and retention strategies that include visiting minority campuses to recruit the kinds of candidates that have not been represented or aggressively sought out in the past. The biggest challenge for military and civilian agencies has been identifying what exactly will attract these candidates to an organization which has largely in the past, ignored their potential contributions.

Changes in Recruitment and Retention Strategies

The DOD is working hard however to correct past wrongs and let minority candidates know that promotions opportunities and stable careers are something that minority and disabled candidates have to look forward to if they decide to participate in new programs. The DOD is letting candidates know that the future in a traditional corporate or business workforce is uncertain, however is suggesting that the DOD can offer students more certainty than the workforce might.

Recently, according to one article surveyed, the principal director for equal opportunity at the DOD was present at an African-American History Month celebration at Tougaloo College, a black college, in order to "inform African-American students and minorities of military civil service opportunities" (Sample, 2003). The article points out that at present the current representation of African-Americans as officers within all branches in the military is only 8%, while representation in general is at 20% (Sample, 2003). This has proven a somewhat effective method thus far, as any candidate wants to know that the people recruiting them are going out of there way to meet them on their turf and in their environment.

Bowling (1995) notes in his observation that the Navy and other military branches are stepping up to the plate, implementing affirmative action programs and even establishing quotas for recruiting minority candidates even though none are necessarily required by government agencies. The impetus behind this is a desire to not only meet but also exceed the expectations that have been established by EEO programs and policy initiatives. The goal isn't simply to correct past wrongs, but to make sure that they do not happen again, and that all members of society are adequately represented whether they work as officers or in the civilian workforce.

Historically efforts at recruiting and retaining minority candidates have been minimal at best as pointed out by the article (Bowling, 1995). However, this is rapidly changing as evidenced by new Human Resources requirements and programs that are sending military officers out to recruit young candidates. The lure of a stable work environment and a future where rapid promotion and advancement may occur may be too much for candidates to resist, particularly in an economy where the future is as Navy and other department officials point out, uncertain (Bowling, 1995).

Further the article points out that while the relative numbers of women's and minorities in key jobs has steadily increased at management levels, they are still underrepresented in the highest grades of military organizations (Bowling, 1995). Agencies are now required to conduct affirmative recruitment for occupations and grades where historically minorities have been underrepresented (Bowling, 1995). It is important that these agencies not only work to recruit candidates at basic levels, but work to promote them specifically to high up levels within their organizations. Only then will past inequities be resolved and will government and other agencies start representing the true diversity that exists within the world today.