Case study of U.S. federal research workforce diversity: interactions of social networks, race-ethnicity, and gender in job attainment

Abstract

We investigated employment diversity patterns, including interactions between social networks and employee demographics such as race-ethnicity and gender. In 2012–2014, we randomly interviewed 183 of the total of about 300 employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNW), asking them how they learned of their first PNW job. Several results displayed patterns with race-ethnicity and gender, including the following: (1) males were more likely than females to have learned of their PNW job through nonsocial means (e.g., websites); (2) when finding out about their job from another person, White employees were more likely to have been informed by males, and non-Whites were more often informed by females; and (3) males were more likely to have been hired into jobs with higher pay grades. The PNW scientist workforce we sampled was predominantly White and male, which may have contributed to the overall PNW workforce being predominantly White and male, along with the higher percentage of men in jobs at higher pay grades.

Citation

Moreno Luna, Arlyn Y.; Olson, Deanna H.; Vance-Borland, Ken. 2023. Case study of U.S. federal research workforce diversity: interactions of social networks, race-ethnicity, and gender in job attainment. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-1014. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 18 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/pnw-gtr-1014.