Library Index :: Family and Social Issues of the United States :: Occupations - African-americans And Jobs, Hispanic Americans And Jobs, Asian-americans And Jobs, Native Americans/alaska Natives And Jobs

Occupations - Minorities And Government Employment

At the Top Levels

Traditionally, white males have held most of the higher-level positions in the federal government. Along with cabinet members, who are selected by the president, these high-level officials wield the power in federal government. This holds true for many agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Customs Service.

A major contributor to this situation is time. It takes about twenty years to rise to the top of any organization. In the early 1980s few women, African-Americans, or Hispanics held any management positions in the federal government. Another possible factor is partiality. Some lower-level government employees believe that they have been deprived of promotions because of their gender or race and have filed bias complaints.

On May 17, 2000, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidelines to facilitate the settlement of federal-sector discrimination complaints, including claims brought under Title

TABLE 4.4
Detailed occupation of the employed civilian population 16 years and over by sex, and race and Hispanic origin, March 2000
(Numbers in thousands)

Race and Hispanic origin1
Total Asian and Pacific Islander White, not Hispanic Other
Detailed occupation group and sex Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total2 134,338 100.0 5,246 100.0 99,359 100.0 29,732 100.0
Executive, administrative, and managerial 19,764 14.7 915 17.4 16,264 16.4 2,585 8.7
Professional specialty 20,729 15.4 1,149 21.9 16,754 16.9 2,826 9.5
Technical and related support 4,384 3.3 251 4.8 3,323 3.3 810 2.7
Sales 16,138 12.0 620 11.8 12,792 12.9 2,726 9.2
Administrative support, including clerical 19,020 14.2 605 11.5 13,963 14.1 4,451 15.0
Precision production, craft, and repair 14,386 10.7 299 5.7 10,804 10.9 3,283 11.0
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors 7,352 5.5 353 6.7 4,555 4.6 2,444 8.2
Transportation and material moving 5,340 4.0 94 1.8 3,698 3.7 1,548 5.2
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 5,310 4.0 147 2.8 3,234 3.3 1,929 6.5
Service workers, private household 884 0.7 45 0.9 443 0.4 396 1.3
Service workers, except private household 17,787 13.2 735 14.0 11,275 11.3 5,777 19.4
Farming, forestry, and fishing 3,245 2.4 33 0.6 2,255 2.3 957 3.2
Male2 71,237 100.0 2,796 100.0 52,937 100.0 15,504 100.0
Executive, administrative, and managerial 10,877 15.3 446 15.9 9,256 17.5 1,175 7.6
Professional specialty 9,420 13.2 669 23.9 7,680 14.5 1,071 6.9
Technical and related support 2,060 2.9 149 5.3 1,585 3.0 326 2.1
Sales 8,207 11.5 327 11.7 6,702 12.7 1,178 7.6
Administrative support, including clerical 3,908 5.5 206 7.4 2,639 5.0 1,063 6.9
Precision production, craft, and repair 12,975 18.2 232 8.3 9,833 18.6 2,910 18.8
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors 4,775 6.7 199 7.1 3,117 5.9 1,460 9.4
Transportation and material moving 4,786 6.7 86 3.1 3,311 6.3 1,389 9.0
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 4,254 6.0 110 4.0 2,575 4.9 1,569 10.1
Service workers, private household 40 0.1 4 0.1 26 0.0 11 0.1
Service workers, except private household 7,419 10.4 343 12.3 4,560 8.6 2,515 16.2
Farming, forestry, and fishing 2,515 3.5 24 0.9 1,655 3.1 837 5.4
Female2 63,102 100.0 2,450 100.0 46,423 100.0 14,228 100.0
Executive, administrative, and managerial 8,888 14.1 469 19.1 7,008 15.1 1,410 9.9
Professional specialty 11,309 17.9 480 19.6 9,074 19.5 1,755 12.3
Technical and related support 2,324 3.7 102 4.2 1,738 3.7 484 3.4
Sales 7,931 12.6 293 12.0 6,090 13.1 1,548 10.9
Administrative support, including clerical 15,112 23.9 399 16.3 11,324 24.4 3,388 23.8
Precision production, craft, and repair 1,410 2.2 67 2.7 971 2.1 372 2.6
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors 2,576 4.1 154 6.3 1,438 3.1 984 6.9
Transportation and material moving 554 0.9 8 0.3 387 0.8 160 1.1
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 1,056 1.7 37 1.5 659 1.4 360 2.5
Service workers, private household 843 1.3 41 1.7 417 0.9 385 2.7
Service workers, except private household 10,369 16.4 392 16.0 6,715 14.5 3,262 22.9
Farming, forestry, and fishing 729 1.2 9 0.4 601 1.3 120 0.8
1Hispanic refers to people whose origins are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish origin regardless of race.
2Civilian labor force and occupation data reflect characteristics of the civilian noninstitutionalized population for March 2000 and are not adjusted for seasonal changes.
SOURCE: "Table 12. Detailed Occupation of the Employed Civilian Population 16 Years and over by Sex, and Race and Hispanic Origin: March 2000," in The Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the United States: March 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, March 2000 [Online] http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/api/ppl-146/tab12.pdf [accessed March 1, 2004]

VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (PL 88-352), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, and national origin. Under the administration of Chairperson Ida L. Castro, the EEOC sought to reform its complaint process for federal employees. The new directive authorizes federal agencies to enter into settlement of bias claims, including monetary payment.

Law Enforcement

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2002 (Washington, DC, 2003), minorities made up 32.4 percent of all federal law enforcement officers in 2002. The breakdown is as follows: Hispanics (16.8 percent), non-Hispanic African-Americans (11.7 percent), Asians and Pacific Islanders (2.5 percent), Native Americans (1.2 percent). (See Figure 4.1.)

Gains have been made since 1996 when it comes to the number of minorities working in law enforcement agencies—minorities made up 28 percent of federal officers in 1996 as opposed to 32.4 percent in 2002. Hispanic federal officers saw the biggest leap, going from 13.1 percent in 1996 to 16.8 percent of federal

TABLE 4.5
Employed Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban-origin workers by sex, occupation, class of worker, and full- or part-time status, 2001–02
(In thousands)

Total Hispanic origin1 Mexican origin Puerto Rican origin Cuban origin
Category 2001 2002 2001 2002 2001 2002 2001 2002
Sex
Total (all civilian workers) 16,190 16,590 10,471 10,673 1,341 1,401 628 592
Men 9,668 9,845 6,522 6,588 672 738 369 337
Women 6,522 6,744 3,949 4,085 669 662 259 255
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty 2,329 2,461 1,270 1,280 281 285 140 163
Executive, administrative, and managerial 1,239 1,293 711 702 142 134 68 89
Professional specialty 1,091 1,168 558 578 139 150 72 74
Technical, sales, and administrative support 3,877 3,828 2,309 2,297 433 439 196 180
Technicians and related support 375 341 218 197 36 39 22 14
Sales occupations 1,534 1,559 913 937 142 153 79 73
Administrative support, including clerical 1,968 1,928 1,178 1,163 256 246 95 92
Service occupations 3,278 3,475 2,046 2,144 253 284 95 85
Private household 241 256 126 133 7 3 3 3
Protective service 272 278 158 154 44 51 16 19
Service, except private household and protective 2,765 2,940 1,762 1,857 202 229 76 63
Precision production, craft, and repair 2,462 2,503 1,725 1,770 147 149 79 78
Mechanics and repairers 613 578 395 368 65 58 33 23
Construction trades 1,246 1,299 914 960 42 50 31 35
Other precision production, craft, and repair 603 626 415 442 40 42 16 20
Operators, fabricators, and laborers 3,466 3,472 2,446 2,445 210 223 108 81
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors 1,440 1,357 1,025 941 99 81 29 24
Transportation and material moving occupations 770 827 517 549 52 69 34 27
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 1,256 1,287 904 954 59 73 45 30
Construction laborers 346 363 262 285 11 12 10 7
Other handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 910 924 642 670 47 61 35 23
Farming, forestry, and fishing 777 850 676 738 17 22 10 5
Class of worker
Agriculture:
Wage and salary workers 630 687 546 610 13 13 9 3
Self-employed workers 85 91 63 74 1 2 5 2
Unpaid family workers 1 1 1 – – 1 – –
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary workers 14,762 15,056 9,423 9,523 1,284 1,348 574 553
Government 1,633 1,687 1,036 1,042 193 210 66 66
Private industries 13,129 13,369 8,387 8,481 1,091 1,138 509 487
Private households 262 272 136 141 9 4 3 3
Other industries 12,868 13,097 8,251 8,340 1,082 1,134 506 483
Self-employed workers 701 746 431 461 42 37 39 34
Unpaid family workers 12 8 7 4 1 1 – 1
Full-or part-time status

officers in 2002. Among African-Americans, the proportion rose from 11.3 percent in 1996 to 11.7 percent in 2002. The law enforcement agencies with the greatest increases in minority representation included the Customs Service (from 28.9 to 36.4 percent), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (41.3 to 46.7 percent), and the Bureau of Prisons (from 35.6 to 40 percent). (See Figure 4.2.)

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