The Curious Case of Women in State and Local Government.

Abstract

IN female pational RECENT employment status YEARS, of INCREASING American patterns women, ATTENTION and their so that HAS determinants.2 a BEEN good DEVOTED deal But is known TO research THE about OCCUon pational status of American women, so that a good deal is known about female employm nt patterns and their determinants.2 But r search on the occupational standing of women has almost invariably concentrated on the private sector a curious omission in light of the oft-perceived obligation for the government work force to reflect the composition of the population along salient lines of social cleavage (sex, race, etc.). Representative bureaucracy has been defended on several grounds: enhancing administrative responsiveness in an era of increasing bureaucratic domination of the policy-making process; redressing the unrepresentativeness of other branches of government, particularly the legislative; providing underprivileged groups with an avenue of social mobility; setting a good example for private sector employers; and legitimizing government in the eyes of affected groups.3 Most available information about female public employment focuses on the federal level. While precise longitudinal comparisons are not always very meaningful, it is certain that women continue to be underrepresented in the federal service in terms of both the quantity and the quality of their employment. In 1967, for example, women comprised 34.1 percent of full-time white collar federal employees. By 1972, this figure had actually slipped slightly, to 33.7 percent.4 Moreover, by 1972 women had still not approached evening out the highly stratified pattern of federal employment. Despite comprising roughly 75 percent of federal workers in the four lowest employment brackets, women were notable by their very absence at the highest levels: fewer than 3 percent of the employees in the four highest grades were women. Nor were women evenly spread through the various federal agencies. Rather, they were concentrated in those agencies which perform social service functions. Women comprised 58.0 percent of the employees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, but only 34.2 percent, 23.1 percent, and 17.6 percent in the Departments of State, Agriculture, and Transportation, respectively. Even

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