The Federal Women's Program

Abstract

W hat is the Federal Women's Program? How did it come about? Why was it necessary to establish such a program? And, where is it going? In essence, it is an action program established to enhance employment and advancement opportunities for women in the federal government. The primary program efforts of the Federal Women's Program have been directed toward three main objectives: (1) creating the legal, regulatory, and administrative framework for achieving equality of opportunity without regard to sex; (2) bringing practice in closer accord with merit principles through the elimination of attitudes, customs, and habits which have previously denied women entry into certain occupations, as well as high-level positions through the career service; and (3) encouraging qualified women to compete in examinations for federal employment and to participate in training programs leading to advancement. With President Nixon's Executive Order 11478 in 1969, the focus of attention on the Federal Women's Program was substantially raised by placing it under the stewardship of agency directors of employment opportunity, who hold overall responsibility for the total Equal Employment Opportunity Program and the development of an affirmative action plan to make the EEO Program a reality. Another major thrust of the revitalized EEO Program was the establishment of an Upward Mobility Program a program designed to move employees from lower-level clerical positions into technical and professional positions. The Upward Mobility Program requires the development of career systems, elimination of dead-end jobs, and bridging between clerical and * In spite of the fact that women were employed in public service before the Constitution was signed; in spite of the fact that the Civil Service Act of 1883 encouraged women to compete in civil service examinations on the same basis as men; and in spite of the f ct the Classification Act of 1923 established the concept of equal pay for work, it took other actions to move toward opportunity for women in the federal service. In 1965, an 1870 law that permitted agencies to select men or women for vacancies was repealed by Congress; in 1967, an Executive Order added sex to other prohibited forms of discrimination (race, color, religion, and national origin); and subsequently, in 1967, the Federal Women's Program was established to enhance the employment and advancement of women in the federal government. Further, President Nixon's Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969, raised the level of attention on the Federal Women's Program by integrating it into the overall Equal Employment Opportunity Program. Equal opportunity for women is public policy. The Federal Women's Program is designed to insure that this policy becomes practice.