GAO reviewed its equal employment opportunity (EEO) activities from 1987 to 1990, focusing on: (1) its strategy for developing affirmative action plans; (2) the implementation of its strategy; (3) the approaches used in the affirmative action plans; and (4) management accountability for implementing affirmative action strategies.

GAO found that: (1) the GAO affirmative action plan is not formulated on an agencywide basis, since each GAO division sets its own goals and timetables for hiring and promoting women and minorities; (2) division heads have the responsibility and are accountable for meeting affirmative action requirements; (3) it needs to develop a national plan to integrate and assess its overall affirmative action requirements; (4) it needs to define its EEO groupings more discretely, particularly by gender; (5) it does not have a standardized method for calculating underrepresentation and setting priorities for affirmative action goals; (6) the GAO affirmative action plan includes goal setting, job assignments, promotions, and upper level opportunities; (7) it is difficult to compare results among all divisions, since it permits divisions to use several analytical approaches; (8) the GAO affirmative action program meets most Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) standards, although EEOC requirements for executive agencies do not apply to GAO; and (9) it needs to include training as part of its affirmative action plan in order to comply with the law.