The U.S. federal Senior Executive Service (SES) and gender diversity: would proposed legislation enhancing the representational

According to GAO data, in fiscal year 2007 (October 1, 2006--September 30, 2007) women comprised 29.1 percent of the SES, as compared to 46.3 percent of the U.S. labor force (37) and 43.2 percent of the U.S. federal government workforce. (38) This represents a steady increase from 11 percent representation in 1990, (39) to 19.1 percent representation in 2000, (40) to 29.1 percent in 2007. (41) Within the government employee recruitment pools from which agencies typically source future career SES candidates, however, during 2007 women comprised only about 34.3 percent of all federal employees in higher-graded positions (42) (see Table 1). The percentage of women in the SES lags behind the corresponding percentage of women in the workforce, as does the percentage of women occupying positions from which SES candidates are often sourced.

Women in the SES

The reasons for the disparity between the available pool of potential female federal executives and the number who actually ascend to the senior-most ranks of management in government agencies have been the subject of debate and study for years. For instance the 1992 Merit Systems Protection Board report A Question of Equity: Women and the Glass Ceiling detailed findings from a survey that identified a number of objective barriers to career advancement among women, including shorter average lengths of federal service than male counterparts, fewer years of formal education on average, and a greater tendency to decline promotions that would require relocating. (43) The report also indicated that women faced barriers to advancement in the form of "subtle assumptions, attitudes, and stereotypes which affect how managers sometimes view women's potential for advancement and, in some cases, their effectiveness on the job." (44)

During the present decade, the GAO has issued numerous reports on the status of the SES workforce, primarily in the form of year-end data snapshots, which reflect the gender diversity within the SES corps at various federal agencies (see Table 2). The GAO's reports have not included specific analyses identifying actual causes for agencies having low diversity in their SES ranks. (45) Table 2 depicts the gender diversity in 24 federal agencies' SES ranks as of September 2007.

Appointment to the SES--Current Law

Initial appointment as a career member of the SES occurs through a merit-based, competitive recruitment process managed by an agency's executive resources board (ERB). (46) The Agency head appoints the members of the ERB from among existing executive employees within the agency. (47) The Agency head is responsible for establishing qualifications standards for each SES position in the agency. (48) Vacancy announcements must be posted to OPM's USAJOBS website (www.usajobs.gov) for a minimum of 14 days, open to all groups of qualified civil service employees. At the agency's discretion, the announcement may also be open to qualified individuals outside the civil service. After the recruitment period closes, the ERB must screen, rate, and rank the candidates and prepare a written certification list of those deemed best qualified, which the ERB then forwards to the selection panel or selecting official for applicant interview(s) and/or a hiring decision, as appropriate. (49)

OPM regulations mandate that "all candidates compete and be rated and ranked on the same basis, and that selection be based solely on qualifications and not on political or other non-job-related factors." (50) The ERB assesses the technical and executive qualifications of each SES applicant. To demonstrate technical qualifications, each candidate must submit written narratives that illustrate his/her specific, job-related technical knowledge and skills related to the advertised position/job. To demonstrate executive core qualifications (ECQs), each candidate must submit written narratives illustrating his/her executive leadership experiences and potential for success within the SES, beyond his/her technical expertise (see Table 3).

ERB panels often access candidates using a crediting plan, which outlines the manner in which the ECQs and any mandatory qualifications are to be rated for each candidate. The purpose of the crediting plan, which is generally prepared with the assistance of the servicing human resources officer, is to guide ERB members in assessing each candidate's application package in a consistent manner and also to provide a means by which to document the consideration and rating given each. The ERB must document and certify its actions, including issuing written recommendations on all eligible candidates, through a list provided to the selecting panel or official(s). (51) Unless no selection is made, the selecting official/appointing authority is required to select from among the candidates the ERB identified as best qualified. As with the rating and ranking process, the selection decision must be based on the qualifications of the candidates, not on political or other non-job-related factors. (52)

Once the appointing authority makes a selection from the best qualified list of candidates for a particular SES position, but prior to the selectee's initial appointment as a career SES, an independent OPM qualifications review board (QRB) must certify the selectee's ECQs. (53) The purpose of the QRB is to evaluate and certify that the proposed selectee possesses executive skills and an understanding of government sufficient to lead, as opposed to being simply technically proficient. (54)

OPM manages multiple QRBs to review the qualifications of candidates in a timely manner. A QRB generally consists of three SES members, a majority of whom must be career SES and, generally, one of whom who has previously served on a QRB panel. OPM does not allow QRB members to evaluate candidates from their own agencies or to compare candidates. In addition, the QRB may not rely on any information other than what OPM provides. An OPM QRB administrator convenes each panel and ensures the panel process is conducted according to OPM requirements.

The members of the QRB meet and assess whether each candidate presented meets management and executive competency standards, based upon one of three categories of criteria, listed as criterion (A), (B), and (C). Specifically, current law requires that SES candidates be evaluated based upon: (A) consideration of demonstrated executive experience; (B) consideration of successful participation in a career executive development program which is approved by the Office; or (C) sufficient flexibility to allow for the appointment of individuals who have special or unique qualities which indicate a likelihood of executive success and who would not otherwise be eligible for appointment. (55)

The QRB approval of criterion (A) cases are based on a review of ECQs, the vacancy announcement, and other information OPM may provide. When reviewing criterion (B) cases, the QRB receives OPM documentation of the ECQs, reflecting that the candidate has successfully completed an OPM-approved executive candidate course of study/development, such

as those run by most federal agencies. In such instance, the QRB simply accepts the ECQ certification and does not recertify the ECQs. Finally, the QRB reviews criterion (C) cases from the broadest perspective, based upon the agency's entire submission, which may include an individual development plan and or additional obligations on the agency to ensure the candidate's successful completion of the proposed executive development activities. (56)

Appointment to the SES--Proposed Legislation

In June 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.3774, the SES Diversity Act. A companion bill, S.2148, was also introduced in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Later, S.2148 was referred to the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, where it remains as of the date of submission of this Article for publication. While unlikely to become law during the 110th Congress, the passage of the SES Diversity Act legislation in the House and the introduction of companion legislation in the Senate, make reintroduction of this, or similar legislation, a reasonable expectation during the 111th Congress.

The proposed legislation approaches SES diversity from two perspectives: (1) selection of women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities into the SES; and (2) planning and programming activities to maximize the opportunities for these groups to be selected into the SES. This Article explores the first perspective, as it relates to initial appointments/selection of females to the career SES.

1. Enhanced Diversity on the ERB

The SES Diversity Act amends current law with respect to composition of agency ERBs, directing OPM to issue regulations that would require federal agencies and OPM to consider diversity when designating members of SES ERBs. For the purpose of "[p]romoting diversity in the career appointments process," this proposed legislation requires, agencies to do the following:

At first blush, enhancing the representational diversity of an agency's ERB would not appear to improve the gender diversity of the agency's SES corps. For example, if only females applied for a particular SES position, then, regardless of the representational diversity of the agency's ERB, only the names of female candidates would be forwarded to the selecting official(s) on a list of best-qualified candidates. Conversely, if no females applied for a particular position, regardless of the representational diversity of the ERB, obviously no female candidates would be forwarded to the selecting official on the ERB's certificate listing of the of best-qualified eligible candidates.

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