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Disparities in STEM pay at Pentagon a sticking point in diversity push – By Molly Weisner (Federal Times) / May 5, 2023
Cultivating a technically savvy and diverse workforce is a challenge for all of government. Pay is often pointed to as the biggest reason agencies can’t compete with the private sector, though new research says there’s more to it.
In fact, previous RAND Corporation research has said that pay gaps between the public and private sector are, on average, not that big when the data takes into consideration tenure or education levels. Factor in how men and women of different races are paid against each other, however, and considerable discrepancies appear, a May report said.
Within the Department of Defense’s 950,000 non-uniformed workforce, there remains a significant and inexplicable pay difference between white males and all other demographics, according to RAND. Researchers didn’t link that discrepancy to any one explanation in particular, though they acknowledged it’s possible that decision-making “biases,” either implicit or explicit, could be a factor.
