A Better, More Diverse Senior Executive Service in 2050

other developed countries who are dealing with rapidly aging populations andshrinking workforces, such as Japan and much of Western Europe. In contrast,communities of color provide the United States an opportunity to maintain agrowing and vital labor force.It is certainly possible for a government to be responsive to its citizens withoutdiversity. And good work has been performed for decades by the Senior ExecutiveService, which has not been as diverse as the people it serves. But the likelihoodthat the government will understand the lives and appreciate the challengesof people of color and women in the economy, in schools, and in the militarymust increase as more people of color and women serve in the Senior ExecutiveService, in Congress, and in other parts of government. GAO, in looking at diversityliterature, argues that increased diversity can “help an organization expandservices to meet the needs of a more diverse customer base.” 32LeadershipThe federal government has been a leader in ensuring fair hiring and expandingopportunities for people of color. It should reaffirm this role.African Americans, for example, long faced discrimination in hiring in thiscountry. Dating back to the 1930s, the federal government encouraged hiring ofAfrican Americans by its contractors and in some cases required that contractorsemploy a percentage of skilled African American workers. 33 In the 1960s with civilrights legislation and the onset of official affirmative action, the federal government’sefforts became more widespread and overt.Improvement required prioritizing by Congress and Secretary of the InteriorHarold Ickes in the 1930s to call for nondiscrimination in hiring by the federalgovernment and federal contractors. Thirty years later, President Lyndon B.Johnson and others established it as a responsibility of the federal governmentto comply with affirmative action and lead in hiring African Americans andother people of color.The result, particularly for African Americans, has been better than in the privatesector. While more than 8 percent of the Senior Executive Service was AfricanAmerican in 2006, they occupied less than 3 percent of corporate senior managementjobs, according to The New York Times. 3417 Center for American Progress | A Better, More Diverse Senior Executive Service in 2050