ML20148A918
| ML20148A918 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/19/1978 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY |
| To: | |
| References | |
| SECY-78-545, NUDOCS 7810300370 | |
| Download: ML20148A918 (7) | |
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October 19, 1978 SECY-78-545 For: The Commissioners l
From: The Federal Women's Program Advisory Committee '
Subject:
SEX DISCRIMINATION IN NRC
Purpose:
To inform the Commission of the Federal Women's Program Advisory !
Committee concern of trends of sex discrimination in NRC. l
Background:
Late in the fall of 1977, acting upon informal reports of various degrees of dissatisfaction among women employees, the Federal Women's Program Advisory Committee (Committea) undertook, a survey to develop a basis to (1) identify problem areas of concern to NRC women, and (2) recommend its use in management decisions. The results of this survey were published in March 1978 (Enclosure 1).
In a memorandum to Daniel J. Donoghue, Director, Office of Administration, dated March 21, 1978 (Enclosure 2),
Ruth J. Anderson, Manager of the Federal Women's Program, pointed out that statistical data received from the Division of Operations and Personnel showed a disproportionate number of women who were audited during the period January 1977 to March 1978. On the basis of this memorandum, the Committae requested and received a meeting with Lee V. Gossick, Executive Director of Operations, on March 29, 1978. At this meeting, the Committee brought to the ED0's attention the fact that !
women employees were treated differently than men employees in NRC's auditing process. Requests were made at this meeting and on several subsequent occasions for additional statistical data from Operations and Personnel on their auditing procedures.
In view of the lack of response to these requests, the Committee felt it imperative to initiate a series of meetings with the major office directors of NRC, At a Committee meeting held on April 19, 1978, a format was established to conduct these interviews. The basis for the lunch-hour sessions was a list of questions solicited from women employees of each office dealing with women's concerns in this agency. Questions were received with optional anonymity. The questions were forwarded to each office director one week prior to the interview. The Committee recorded each office director's responses to the questions and submitted a draft for concurrence. As a final step, the Committee requested the office directors to make the questions and answers available to all employees, both women and men, in their offices, 7810300370
a The Commissioners 2 Although we have not completed our meetings with all of the office directors, the Committee feels that our current input should be considered in the proposal for reviewing allegations regarding discrimination now being conducted by OPE, 0GC and EE0 at the request of the Commission.
To date, five meetings with the following Office Directors have been held:
Robert B. Minogue, May 31, 1978 Daniel J. Donoghue, July 5, 1978 Harold R. Denton, August 7, 1978 Clifford V. Smith, September 11, 1978 :
Howard K. Shapar, October 5, 1978 As a result of these meetings, the Committee has identified trends of sex discrimination.
Identified Trends of Sex Discrimination i The majority of women's concerns, a; stated in the questions i received, fell into several major categories: !
- 1. Training Opportunities l
- 2. Upward Mobility l
- 3. Conversion of Temporary Positions to Permanent Positions
- 4. Implementation of the President's Memorandum to Increase Part-Time Positions
- 5. Negative Attitudes Toward Women (Professionals and Nonprofessionals)
- 6. Travel Opportunities
- 7. Support for the Federal Women's Program
- 8. Recruiting / Hiring Practices
- 9. Promotional Practices (Preselection and Cronyism)
- 10. Sexual Harassment on the Job
- 11. Age Discrimination
- 12. Inefficient Management .
The Commissioners 3 Representative Examples From Meetings With Office Directors The following examples are cited as representative of the most pressing concerns confronting the women of this agency.
[For a more comprehensive view of these question and answer sessions, please refer to Enclosures 3-7.]
Example 1 QUESTION addressed to C. V. Smith: Why is there always enough financial support for professional training (including travel and per diem expenses to other areas in the U.S.) but financial support for secretarial staff (administrative) training is limited or exhausted? Shouldn't the budget allow for adminis-trative training as well as professional training?
ANSWER: Yes, I agree there is a problem. This is one of the things I have been pushing for. Most of the training money is handled in Pete Goldman's office. I have a problem with that because I think each office ought to have its own training budget, and the office director then could proportion it for nonprofessional and professional people. The office director could then carve out so much for each group, but NRC doesn't operate that way.
Example _2 QUESTION addressed to C. V. Smith: What measures has Dr. Smith taken to improve the representation of women in NMSS management?
ANSWER: The only thing I think that ran be done. On every job that has come up on a senior level, I have tried to make sure that there was a woman on the list. I wculd dare say over 95%
of the pcsitions in the senior level management since I have been here did not have women on the list. We had a young lady from Reactors, NRR, to apply for a job an AD had; he had two people; she was terrific, but he picked the man. I did r.ot insist that he hire her, but perhaps I should have.
Example 3 QUESTION addressed to D. J. Donoghue: Just what is the procedure for converting a temporary slot to a permanent one? Who decides which positions should be considered for conversion? Shouldn't such factors as job performance be taken into account regardless of the personal status of the employee? One woman employee
t The Commissioners '4 hired two years ago was recently told by her boss that permanency was years away and that, should a permanent slot become available, he would have to make the choice between her, a " virgin" (his exact words) and.an. employee with a family.
ANSWER: Hiring is based on the best qualified person rather than who has a family to support. Ceilings are allotted from the Commission to EDO to office directors, who in turn fill the permanent and temporary slots.
Example 4 QUESTION addressed to H. R. Denton: In view of the agency's commitment to upward mobility and affirmative action for women and minorities, why can't intern or administrative positions be created for women employees witnin the agency, and why can't on-the-job training be implemented to increase the advancement opportunities for NRC women?
ANSWER: I am for job enrichment. It's hard to convince managers to devote many slots to such positions, however. They would rather hire more experienced professionals rather than para-professionals. Every time we create a slot that is a training position, it puts more work on the other professionals in the branch.
Example 5 QUESTION addressed to R. 8. Minogue: Why does a professional woman with equivalent education and experience often have more difficulty rising to a responsible position than a man?
ANSWER: I feel a frequent reason is a lack of assertiveness of her ability. She is of ten in situations where she is ou numbered by men (as I am outnumbered now). Women's image of themselves can be a detriment because of the stereotype some women have come to accept of themselves. This lack of assertiveness tends to compound some of the prejudices which unfortunately are still encountered.
Example 6 QUESTION addressed to 0. J. Donoghue: Is there any way that the Federal Women's Program Manager can be given some clerical support on a steady basis? I realize that permanent positions are virtually nonexistent and temporaries are being phased out,
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4 The Commissioners. 5 but shouldn't Ruth at least be able to count on somebody for simple clerical duties like answering the phone, typing, etc.?
ANSWER: We have told Ruth that she may borrow Pat's or my secretary and we have requested the Commission to provide for assistance to the TWP in any increase in EE0 positions. Ruth does a tremendous job with the assistance of you individuals and we don't deny that she needs help.
Summary and Recommendations: As a result of our interviews and research into these problems, the Committee feels there are several specific areas that are emerging that the Commission should examine.
- 1. Training Training auttarity should be decentralized with both budget and approval vested in each office. This idea was suggested by several office directors, and the Committee concurs.
- 2. EE0 Assessment We recommend using the paper "How to Conduct an EE0 Assessment" (Enclosure 8) developed by the U.S. Civil Service Commission, Office of Federal Equal Employment Opportunity, in St. Louis Region. Such statistical charts could be used by our agency to accurately reflect all of our work force disciplines.
- 3. Affirmative Action Goals When setting affirmative action goals, attention should be paid to hiring women professionals and nonprofessionals at all levels, instead of falling into the practice of assigning a fixed number 'of women to be hired without reference to the aoove categories.
In testimony presented before the April 18th hearing of the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation of the Committee on Environment and Public Works (Enclosure 9), both Ms. Betty Vetter, Director of the Scientific Manpower Commission, and Ms. Andrea Diane Graham, Director of the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity, U.S. Civil Service Commission, stated that use of these criteria is important and the only true reflector of commitment to EEO.
8 The Commissioners 6
- 4. Preselection /" Cronyism" Cronyism was discussed by most office directors as a way of life here at NRC and elsewhere. Why not emphasize hiring from outside NRC for all technical / professional positions to allow for more qualified women candidates? In addition, the establishment of a selection panel outside of the hiring organization would minimize the effects of preselec-tion and cronyism.
- 5. Goals for Placing Women in Executive Level Positions NRC has about 15 Executive Level positions--none of them occupied by women. President Carter has strongly urged the placement of women in high-level positions. In order to show commitment to this end, NRC should consider placing women at these levels,
- 6. Requart for Commission's Direct Written Support of Committee Meetings We wish to state that this presentation is totally a volunteer effort. Official meetings of the Committee are frowned upon by managers, which causes a reluctance on the part of NRC women employees to join or to meet with the Committee. Because of lack of support, the Committee feels compelled to meet only on lunch hours. We suggsst the Commission issue a directive giving support to the Committee meetings during official business hours. The lack of priority NRC has placed upon the Federal Women's Program reflects adversely upon all women of the agency and perpetuates the "second-class" stereotype of women in the work force.
- 7. Management Support of the Federal Women's Prcoram Consideration should be given to making management support of the Federal Women's Program a fac50r in the appraisal and promotion of NRC managers at all levels.
- 8. Direct Access to the Commission by the Federal Women't Program Manager The Federal Women's Program Manager should have the same reporting line as the EE0 Office so that there are no layers or roadblocks which impair the Federal Women's Program Manager from reaching the Commission.
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The Commissioners 7
- 9. Staff Assistance for the Federal Women's Program Manager Staff assistance should be assigned to the Federal Women's Program Manager so that work related to the Federal Women's Program and its Committee is moved ahead on a timely and professional basic, as any other official business of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
We thank the Commission for allowing us this time to present the concerns of the women of NRC.
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