Why Mention Sex, Race or Gender? Because…

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

Thomas E. Poulin
May 20, 2024

Why mention sex, race or gender? The question is raised frequently in both internal and external discussions on hiring and promotion for public agencies. Some argue it is irrelevant, given public agencies should reflect a meritocracy where only the best qualified should serve. Certainly, this is the ideal towards which most public agencies strive. From a perfectly rationale and idealistic perspective, these individual characteristics might be deemed irrelevant to job qualifications. However, society is imperfect, and messaging concerning sex, race and gender must be better understood if we are to improve.

A Brief History

Over the centuries, in many cultures, including that of the United States, the role of women in government and private sector organizations was greatly limited, and minorities of any kind were marginalized. This made these groups impotent in creating change inside public agencies, with their needs and expectations as members of the public unheeded. This article is not about the past. It is impossible to apply modern standards to historical events. Novelist L.P. Hartley famously noted, “the past is a foreign county; they do things differently there.” However, we can learn from the past in assessing the present and preparing for the future.

The military recruited minorities and women during World War II, but it was not until the 1960s societal expectations evolved, with growing demands for the broader public workforce to reflect the communities they served. There were both idealistic and practical forces at play. The idealistic forces focused on justice to remedy decades, if not centuries, of marginalizing minorities and women. These voices demanded a fair chance for all—no more than anyone else in society would demand. The practical forces focused on the need for qualified, competent, motivated workers to fill positions in new and expand public sector agencies. Without these employees, both the quality and quantity of services delivered might be compromised.

In the intervening decades, society experienced remarkable progress in the inclusion of women and minorities into the public workforce, with the numbers of women often closely mirroring their numbers in society, in some settings. However, such dramatic increases have not been noted in the number of women and minorities into mid- or higher-level positions, nor has there been dramatic improvements in pay inequality, with women still making far less than men for the same work. Accurate numbers for the LGBTQ+ communities are unavailable, illustrating the continued marginalization of this group in many communities. Even if none of this is intentional rather being a lasting artifact of past systems and practices, the need for significant improvement is evident to even approach the ideal of a meritocracy. The possibility for significant improvement exists if positive efforts are made to level the playing field.

 The Path Forward

First, recognize that there have been inequities in the past, intentional or not, many of which continue to impact today’s public agencies. Agencies which reflect the communities they serve at all levels are more likely to understand the needs, expectations and concerns of both the community at large and all sub-groups. This shall support their ability to provide higher quality services to their communities.

Second, recruitment efforts must capture a large audience, but no single recruitment method should be relied upon. Too often, agencies rely on their websites, failing to appreciate that not everyone knows where to look for job vacancies. Additionally, reliance on websites fails to appreciate the existence of digital deserts in some areas. Agency websites are of value, but so are the job boards of professional organizations, local and state employment agencies and the advising centers of colleges and universities. Recruitment fairs might also provide value, as could other more innovative approaches. Word-of-mouth from current employees can be helpful, but tends to only replicate the characteristics of the current workforce. To be successful in recruiting women and minorities, do not rely on any single approach—use as many as possible.

Third, all employment decisions including those tied to recruitment, selection, employee development, promotion, discipline and compensation should be based solely upon objective criteria. Orchestras assessing musicians use a “blind” audition, listening to the music played by a musician screened from view. Employment decisions based solely on performance quality might bring greater value than any other approach. This might mean making probationary processes more robust, and integrating them into internal promotional practices as well. A validated, properly developed job description should serve as the basis for this, ensuring all employment decisions are founded solidly upon relevant knowledge, skills, abilities and other criteria necessary for success in the position.

This article is titled “Why mention sex, race or gender?” because it brings to light how far public agencies have come, but also how far they must go. A true meritocracy will exist when it is no longer necessary to mention the employment or promotion of a woman or minority as a major step forward—it will be the norm. Only then might it be suitable to state only that the most qualified candidate was selected.

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Author: Thomas E. Poulin, PhD, SHRM-CP, IPMA-CP is a training and development consultant and independent scholar. He served in local government for over 30 years, and has been teaching and consulting at the graduate level since 2004. He served two terms as President of the Hampton Roads Chapter of ASPA. He may be reached at [email protected]

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