Federal Workforce Research Articles

Participatory Research With Older Workers in a Pandemic: Innovations and Lessons Learned

In the spring of 2020, and as the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic became increasingly dire, in-person studies halted throughout the world. This included our planned study to examine the role of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)—the sole federal workforce training program for low-income older adults—in influencing participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. While our original plans were to hold a series of in-person workshops with SCSEP participants and case managers using a form of participatory research called community-based system dynamics (CBSD), we paused the launch of our study to determine the safest path forward. This presentation will describe how we responded as well as innovations and implications for future research with harder to reach populations. First, we met with the Massachusetts state SCSEP director to assess the feasibility of moving our sessions online with this particular population. After determining that virtual and telephone sessions would both be needed to increase accessibility, we identified virtual whiteboard software rigorous enough to utilize CBSD-specific activities, user-friendly enough for populations less familiar with virtual environments, and with security features that would be approved by our university, as well as discussed what types of activities to conduct on the telephone for such a visual research method. Our CBSD study was one of the first to utilize virtual and telephone formats in the history of this method, and our results indicate that it is possible—and sometimes beneficial—to move in-person participatory methods to these environments to increase inclusion and efficiency.

Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce: Executive Order 13583 and Demographic Trends

President Obama's 2011 Executive Order 13583 was expected to serve as a catalyst for a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. This order reinforced the government's commitment to equal employment opportunity by “using the talents of all segments of society,” achieved by recruiting, hiring, promoting, and retaining a more diverse workforce. The order mandated the creation of a government-wide diversity and inclusion strategic plan as well as agency-specific plans. This study uses institutional theory as a lens to examine agency response to EO 13583 to articulate diversity and inclusion rationales, practices, and correlating workforce demographic trends. We examine how three federal agencies articulated diversity and inclusion practices and activities in the plans. We explore demographic workforce trends prior to, during, and after adoption of the agency diversity and inclusion plans. Together, these analyses offer evidence of varied approaches to diversity and inclusion as well as uneven progress in pursuing the letter and spirit of the order. Specifically, the articulation of agency-specific diversity goals following Executive Order 13583 does not consistently translate to enhanced workforce diversity.

Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce: Executive Order 13583 and Demographic Trends

President Obama’s 2011 Executive Order 13583 was expected to serve as a catalyst for a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. This order reinforced the government’s commitment to equal employment opportunity by “using the talents of all segments of society,” achieved by recruiting, hiring, promoting, and retaining a more diverse workforce. The order mandated the creation of a government-wide diversity and inclusion strategic plan as well as agency-specific plans. This study uses institutional theory as a lens to examine agency response to EO 13583 to articulate diversity and inclusion rationales, practices, and correlating workforce demographic trends. We examine how three federal agencies articulated diversity and inclusion practices and activities in the plans. We explore demographic workforce trends prior to, during, and after adoption of the agency diversity and inclusion plans. Together, these analyses offer evidence of varied approaches to diversity and inclusion as well as uneven progress in pursuing the letter and spirit of the order. Specifically, the articulation of agency-specific diversity goals following Executive Order 13583 does not consistently translate to enhanced workforce diversity.

Help Students with Disabilities Develop a Positive Identity

Help Students with Disabilities Develop a Positive Identity

Implementation of AI into Federal Agencies: Keeping an Eye on the Federal Workforce

In just over two decades technology has fundamentally changed our society and will continue to do so. The increased reliance on automation due to the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the nation to the era of artificial intelligence. Between the signing of the National AI Initiative Act in 2020 and the tremendous amount of AI planning among countries around the world, it is time the United States takes the necessary actions to prepare for the implementation of AI into federal agencies.The United States government is currently far behind the private sector in AI funding, research and development, and implementation. If reforms are not implemented soon, the public sector will struggle to keep up with the rapid advancement of technology in years to come. Recent political discourse about AI has been slow and advising reports fail to address important factors in the implementation of AI such as logistics surrounding the federal workforce.People must be at the forefront of the federal agenda in order to create and maintain effective AI systems within the government. There must be changes made to contracting and hiring practices, worker incentives, and training programs. Decisions about AI implementation must account for worker diversity, ethics training, and inequality. As our country makes the transition towards the implementation of this powerful technology it is imperative that the federal workforce is prepared for the obstacles ahead and that AI is seen as an opportunity for the government to improve the lives of civilians and the functioning of bureaucracy.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: Supporting “Successful” Transitions into Adulthood

Completing education, obtaining employment, and securing an independent residence, tasks tied to an ideal of self-sufficiency are viewed as important hallmarks of adulthood. Yet, not all youth and young adults (YYA) have adequate resources and many require assistance to overcome transition barriers including lack of social support, poverty, and homelessness. This study analyzed the policy design and social justice values (equity, equality, and adequacy) of three federal workforce programs, authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and designed to increase economic self-sufficiency among disconnected YYA. These programs lack stable and adequate funding and currently serve a small fraction of the YYA who could benefit. A value of equity is evident in the eligibility and financing criteria, while adequacy as it relates to programming—particularly benefits and services offered to address basic needs, economic stability, and healthy development—warrants further investigation. The programs’ focus on self-sufficiency through connection to education, training, and employment ignores research suggesting that at least six other dimensions are crucial for a successful transition to adulthood. Research on program entry and exit, primary services/benefits received, and life experiences of program participants is needed to determine current levels of support and the potential of these programs to enhance other components of a healthy transition including health, community engagement, and social support among disconnected YYA. Such research may also need to be focused regionally, given the highly localized control of programs.

Narrowing but persisting gender pay gap among employees of the US Department of Health and Human Services during 2010\u20132018

BackgroundThe gender pay gap in the United States (US) has narrowed over the last several decades, with the female/male earnings ratio in the US increased from about 60% before the 1980s to about 79% by 2014. However, the gender pay gap among the healthcare workforce persists. The objective of this study is to estimate the gender pay gap in the US federal governmental public health workforce during 2010–2018.MethodsWe used an administrative dataset including annual pay rates and job characteristics of employees of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Employees’ gender was classified based on first names. Regression analyses were used to estimate the gender pay gap using the predicted gender.ResultsFemale employees of the DHHS earned about 13% less than men in 2010, and 9.2% less in 2018. Occupation, pay plan, and location explained more than half of the gender pay gap. Controlling for job grade further reduces the gap. The unexplained portion of the gender pay gap in 2018 was between 1.0 and 3.5%. Female employees had a slight advantage in terms of pay increase over the study period.ConclusionsWhile the gender pay gap has narrowed within the last two decades, the pay gap between female and male employees in the federal governmental public health workforce persists and warrants continuing attention and research. Continued efforts should be implemented to reduce the gender pay gap among the health workforce.

Workforce Entry Including Career and Technical Education and Training

This article reviews the basic patterns of employment and school enrollment for new labor market entrants in the period leading up to the Great Recession and in the decade thereafter. We find a persistent shift into four-year colleges that began during the Great Recession. At the same time, fewer youth are neither working nor enrolled in school. We see little change in occupational training programs during our study period, in program or in participation rates; in particular, rates of training provided via federal workforce development programs remain low among workforce entrants. The research literature on these programs has advanced but without large effects on policy or practice.

U.S. panel calls for new digital service academy to bolster federal workforce

U.S. panel calls for new digital service academy to bolster federal workforce

The undermining of science is Trump’s legacy

The past four years saw interference in the scientific process, inaction on climate change, and a weakened federal science workforce. Artificial intelligence and quantum information science benefited.

Ideology, Unionization, and Personnel Politics in the Federal Budget Process

AbstractThis article studies how administrations seek to shape the federal workforce through the budget process. I develop a theory of personnel politics in which presidents balance ideological and interest group demands in distributing human resources across the federal government. I argue administrations advantage organizations with which they are ideologically aligned and that agencies with higher levels of union penetration see increased budgeted personnel levels, particularly during Democratic presidencies. Using an original dataset of budgeted personnel levels from fiscal years (FY) 1983–2016 and a series of regression analyses, I find strong support for these hypotheses. I also examine the sensitivity of presidential strategy to congressional preferences, agency professionalization, and leadership politicization, providing insights into how this control strategy interacts with the broader environment. Overall, these results have implications for understanding the political dynamics of human capital and capacity in the federal bureaucracy, the administrative presidency, and the politics of performance in federal agencies.

Racial Pay Parity in the Public Sector: The Overlooked Role of Employee Mobilization

Rising economic inequality has aggravated long-standing labor market disparities, with one exception: government employment. This article considers the puzzle of black-white wage parity in the American public sector. African Americans are more likely to work in the public than in the private sector, and their wages are higher there. The article builds on prior work emphasizing institutional factors conditioning this outcome to argue that employee mobilization can motor it. As public sector unions gained political influence postwar, their large constituencies of black, blue-collar workers, drawing on both militant and nonviolent tactics of the urbanizing civil rights movement, advocated for improved working conditions. Archival sources confirm this pattern at the federal level. The employment and activism of African Americans in low-skilled federal jobs pivoted union attention to blue-collar issues and directly contributed to the enactment of a transparent, universal wage schedule for the blue-collar federal workforce (the Federal Wage System). The result was greater pay parity for African Americans, as well as for other disadvantaged groups.

Treading over the crust of a volcano

Author(s): Diamant, Rolf | Abstract: This Letter from Woodstock editorial column shares thoughts on how the US federal government’s response to Covid-19 has been hampered by the hollowing-out of expertise in the federal workforce.

Gender and Educational Variations in the Earnings Premiums of Occupational Credentials

Abstract Occupational credentials such as professional licenses and certifications are known to generate significant earnings premiums. Based on this, the federal workforce development policy focuses on industry-recognized occupational credentials for less-educated adults to help them obtain family-supporting jobs without having to invest in a postsecondary degree. This study used data from the 2016–2019 Current Population Survey (CPS) outgoing rotation group samples to examine differences in the earnings premiums associated with occupational credentials by gender and education. Our analyses revealed that the earnings premium of job-required credential holding was greater for women than men. For women, estimates of the earnings premiums do not vary much by education level, while for men, those without a Bachelor's degree tend to have high premiums than those without.

Association of Employee Engagement Factors and Turnover Intention Among the 2015 U.S. Federal Government Workforce.

Employee turnover is a major challenge facing the federal workforce, which has lost more employees to voluntary turnover than any other form of turnover. This study determined the associations between engagement, demographic factors, and voluntary turnover intention by analyzing 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey data. The findings indicate that employees with higher engagement levels are less likely to report an intention to leave their jobs than those with lower engagement levels. All engagement factors-perceptions of supervisors, leaders, and intrinsic work experience-are independently associated with turnover intention. Demographics also influenced turnover intention; being younger, male, and in a supervisory role and having a higher education level and shorter tenure were more likely to indicate turnover intention. Increasing employee engagement can have a positive effect on retaining a productive federal workforce. To retain an effective federal workforce, human capital management practices are needed to optimize factors that reduce turnover intention.

This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War–Era Washington, D.C., by Jessica Ziparo

This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War–Era Washington, D.C., by Jessica Ziparo

The Sexual Harassment of Federal Employees: Gender, Leadership Status, and Organizational Tolerance for Abuses of Power

AbstractTheory and research suggest that sexual harassment is often a dominance strategy used to undermine women’s power, but the precise relationships between government employees’ workplace power, organizational climate, and vulnerability to particular types of sexual harassment remain under-specified. This study analyzes data from the 2016 US Merit Systems Protection Board survey of the federal civilian workforce (the most comprehensive and up-to-date national data on workplace sexual harassment) to test predictions about how employees’ workplace power and their agency’s efforts to mitigate abuses of power affect their likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment. Findings reveal that women in leadership positions report more sexual harassment than non-leaders, and that team leaders (i.e., those without formal supervisory authority) and executives (i.e., those with the most authority) report more sexual harassment than women in middle management. At the organizational level, sexual harassment occurs in workplaces with higher levels of non-sexual aggression and among employees who perceive their agency as less proactive in preventing and responding to social inequity. Taken together, findings suggest that sexual harassment is a dominance strategy not unlike other forms of aggression used to undermine women in power, and that workplace climates that are effective at mitigating abuses of power reduce the likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment. These results have implications for how government agencies can implement policies that not only prevent harassment but also promote democracy and equity among an increasingly diverse federal workforce.

A Novel Approach for Workforce Surveillance at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Expert groups have recommended ongoing monitoring of the public health workforce to determine its ability to execute designated objectives. Resource- and time-intensive surveys have been a primary data source to monitor the workforce. We evaluated an administrative data source containing US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aggregate federal civil service workforce-related data to determine its potential as a workforce surveillance system for this component of the workforce. We accessed FedScope, a publicly available online database containing federal administrative civilian HHS personnel data. Using established guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems and identified workforce characteristics, we evaluated FedScope attributes for workforce surveillance purposes. We determined FedScope to be a simple, highly accepted, flexible, stable, and timely system to support analyses of federal civil service workforce-related data. Data can be easily accessed, analyzed, and monitored for changes across years and draw conclusions about the workforce. FedScope data can be used to calculate demographics (eg, sex, race or ethnicity, age group, and education level), employment characteristics (ie, supervisory status, work schedule, and appointment type), retirement projections, and characterize the federal workforce into standard occupational categories. This study indicates that an administrative data source containing HHS personnel data can function as a workforce surveillance system valuable to researchers, public health leaders, and decision makers interested in the federal civil service public health workforce. Using administrative data for workforce development is a model that can be applicable to federal and nonfederal public health agencies and ultimately support improvements in public health.

The Anti-Public Administration Presidency: The Damage Trump Has Wrought

President Trump and his Administration have gravely damaged the institutions and values of American public administration. Harm has been done to the federal workforce, the policymaking process, the integrity of missions, agencies and programs, and the government’s relation to science.

Jessica Ziparo. This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War–Era Washington, D.C.

Jessica Ziparo. This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War–Era Washington, D.C.