Equal Opportunity

Recent Reports

Financial Services Industry: Using Data to Promote Greater Diversity and Inclusion

GAO-21-448T

Published: Mar 18, 2021.

Publicly Released: Mar 18, 2021.

Sexual Harassment and Assault: Guidance Needed to Ensure Consistent Tracking, Response, and Training for DOD Civilians

GAO-21-113

Published: Feb 09, 2021.

Publicly Released: Feb 09, 2021.

Intelligence Community: Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Workforce Diversity Planning and Oversight

GAO-21-83

Published: Dec 17, 2020.

Publicly Released: Dec 17, 2020.

Gender Pay Differences: The Pay Gap for Federal Workers Has Continued to Narrow, but Better Quality Data on Promotions Are Needed

GAO-21-67

Published: Dec 03, 2020.

Publicly Released: Dec 03, 2020.

Distance Learning: Challenges Providing Services to K-12 English Learners and Students with Disabilities during COVID-19

GAO-21-43

Published: Nov 19, 2020.

Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2020.

VA Health Care: Better Data Needed to Assess the Health Outcomes of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans

GAO-21-69

Published: Oct 19, 2020.

Publicly Released: Oct 19, 2020.

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Open Recommendations

Sexual Harassment and Assault: Guidance Needed to Ensure Consistent Tracking, Response, and Training for DOD Civilians

GAO-21-113

Feb 09, 2021

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19 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, takes steps to assure that as the department finalizes the development of the central repository for Equal Employment Opportunity data, the planned repository includes data for all DOD components and is updated frequently, such as on a quarterly basis. (Recommendation 1)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, expands guidance that specifies and defines uniform data elements that all DOD components should use when collecting and reporting on allegations of harassment made by DOD federal civilian employees outside of the Equal Employment Opportunity process, such as information about the parties involved, the type of harassment, and actions taken to respond to the allegation. (Recommendation 2)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, clarifies guidance regarding the requirement for the Secretaries of the military departments to maintain data on informal complaints of harassment, including the definition of an informal complaint for tracking purposes; how such data should be maintained, including by a headquarters-level organization; and which informal complaints should be reported to the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on an annual basis. (Recommendation 3)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy and the Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, issues guidance for the military departments to comprehensively track information about reported work-related sexual assaults involving DOD federal civilian employee victims in the continental United States, regardless of eligibility for DOD-provided sexual assault support services, including the status and affiliation of the victim and alleged offender and actions taken by DOD in response, such as any referrals or support services provided. (Recommendation 4)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy and the Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, issues guidance that requires all DOD components, including agencies and field activities, to track reported work-related sexual assaults involving their federal civilian employees as victims or alleged offenders, including the specific data elements to be collected, such as status and affiliation of the victim and alleged offender and actions taken by DOD in response, and common definitions for those data elements. (Recommendation 5)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.
Department of Defense	The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, issues guidance that directs Sexual Assault Response Coordinators to ensure that all DOD civilian employee victims of sexual assault are categorized in the Defense Sexual Assault Incident Database as both federal civilian employees and military dependents, if applicable, for work-related incidents of sexual assault. (Recommendation 6)	Open DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2021, this recommendation remains open.

Intelligence Community: Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Workforce Diversity Planning and Oversight

GAO-21-83

Dec 17, 2020

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7 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should issue new or update existing guidance to require all IC elements to maintain current and complete diversity strategic plans that contain specific objectives, timeframes, and responsibilities. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should ensure that IC elements are making progress toward maintaining current and complete diversity strategic plans. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should issue new or update existing guidance to ensure that IC elements develop performance measures to assess the contribution of activities toward achieving diversity goals and overall progress. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should ensure that IC elements are making progress toward developing measures to assess progress toward achieving diversity management efforts. (Recommendation 4)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should issue new or update existing guidance to ensure that each IC element routinely identifies and takes steps toward eliminating barriers to workforce diversity. (Recommendation 5)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence	The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should ensure that IC elements are routinely completing required assessments to identify and eliminate barriers. (Recommendation 6)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Gender Pay Differences: The Pay Gap for Federal Workers Has Continued to Narrow, but Better Quality Data on Promotions Are Needed

GAO-21-67

Dec 03, 2020

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	The Chair of EEOC should take steps to assess the quality of the promotion data in the MD-715 report and address data discrepancies with agencies in a timelier manner. (Recommendation 1)	Open EEOC neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. We await progress on any agency efforts to address it.

VA Health Care: Better Data Needed to Assess the Health Outcomes of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans

GAO-21-69

Oct 19, 2020

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4 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Veterans Affairs	The Undersecretary for Health should consistently collect sexual orientation data in VHA's health record system, which could include adding a field for providers to input veterans' sexual orientation. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs	The Undersecretary for Health should analyze veterans' sexual orientation data in order to assess health care outcomes for lesbian, gay, and bisexual veterans. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs	The Undersecretary for Health should consistently collect veterans' self-identified gender identity data within and across record systems. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs	The Undersecretary for Health should analyze veterans' self-identified gender identity data in order to assess health care outcomes for transgender veterans. (Recommendation 4)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.