As a federal watchdog agency prepares to investigate accusations of systemic racism at the Veterans Affairs Department, newly released data suggests that it’s easier to get promoted within the department if you’re white.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents VA workers, released data on promotion rates that it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request on Thursday. The data showed that over the last two fiscal years, white employees were nearly twice as likely to be selected for a promotion as their Black counterparts.
In fiscal 2019, 58,803 white employees applied for management positions, and 2,745 of them were chosen for jobs, a selection rate of 4.7%. By contrast, while 40,578 Black employees applied for management jobs, only 1,012 of them were selected. This translates to a selection rate of 2.5% for Black employees.
Between Oct. 1, 2019, and July 13, 2020, the gap between the number of white and Black applicants for management jobs narrowed, with 17,257 Black employees applying, compared to 22,650 white applicants. But the department selected 989 white employees for the jobs, more than double the 436 Black employees who were promoted. The selection rate for Black applicants was 2.5%, compared with 4.4% for white employees.
VA spokeswoman Christina Noel described the data as “incomplete and not definitive,” since applicants were able to decline to provide demographic information. Although Noel declined to elaborate on the issue, AFGE-provided data showed that in fiscal 2019, 46,562 applicants “omitted” demographic information, of whom 2,059 were selected for management posts, and in the partial fiscal 2020 dataset, 21,883 applicants “omitted” the information. The VA appointed 822 of those applicants to management jobs.
“The roughly 2 [percentage point] selection rate differences AFGE cites are due to the fact that these positions had 50% more white applicants,” Noel said. “VA does not tolerate haras ..
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