After Affirmative Action

Life under an executive order suggests the future of afirmative action in a post-CCRI California.

Michael W. Lynch from the November 1996 issue

(Page 2 of 3)

In 1995-96, California's agencies and departments set their hiring goals using relevant labor force standards for the first time, with predictable results. Findings of disparity in the work force dropped from 26 percent to less than 5 percent. While 1,108 hiring goals were set under general labor force data in 1991-92, the last year the state compiled a report, only 235 hiring goals were set in 1995-96 after switching to relevant labor force numbers, a reduction of nearly 80 percent.

Hiring goals are set for specific classes of jobs, such as entry- level positions requiring a college degree, and often entail more than one hire. A timetable, usually between one and 10 years, is set along with the goal. For example, in 1995-96 the Department of Corrections set a goal in the Staff Services Occupational Group to hire five African Americans in two years. The department also set goals in correctional officers for 17 whites in one year, 11 Asians in one year, 13 American Indians in three years, and nine women in one year. Since goals can be set only after a finding of statistical disparity, which is assumed to be the result of discrimination, this large reduction in goals indicates that when accurately measured, discrimination against minorities plays a much smaller role in state hiring than once thought.

In fact, using relevant labor force data (RLF) made clear to department managers that two of the most underrepresented groups were whites and men. Some departments, including the Department of Education, the Franchise Tax Board, and the California Department of Health Services, even set goals for these two groups. Other departments, while finding underutilization of whites and men, chose not to set goals for them. California's Employment Development Department, for example, set eight goals for 181 hires for such groups as African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and women. But their own statistical analysis showed that the two most underrepresented groups in their work force were whites, who were underrepresented by 2,252 jobs, and men, who were underrepresented by 942 jobs.

The switch has been met with mixed reactions. Drew Mendelson, a spokesperson for the California State Employees Association, the state's largest union, opposes the use of relevant labor force data to set goals. "RLF may be more accurate in terms of who has individual qualifications, but it is inaccurate in that it ignores the fact that we have reached a certain balance based on inequality of opportunity before," states Mendelson. "You have to say why is it that if 10 percent of the population is black, then why aren't a tenth of the lawyers black?"

Sharon Felix-Rochon, director of equal employment opportunity at the California Department of Education, supports the move because she feels relevant labor force data provide a more accurate gauge of who is available to fill specialized jobs. "When we get to job classifications that require specific credentials, then the relevant labor pool is appropriate." Felix-Rochon, who reformed hiring in her department before Wilson's executive order, believes that the former system had degenerated. "What happened unfortunately is that there had been so much emphasis on numbers--it became a numbers game--and we failed," she says. "People would look at the numbers, and if the numbers didn't reflect the goals, we would get sanctioned. Advocacy groups would call the departments and call people racists just based on the numbers."

Lance Barnett, who became executive director of the State Personnel Board just in time to implement Wilson's reforms, also supports the move to RLF data. "It got the departments down to a workable set of goals," states Barnett. "Shifting from 'general' to 'relevant' allowed departments to focus their efforts where they could really make a difference."

Edwards, the affirmative action manager, feels that most agencies are satisfied with the new standards. "Relevant labor force is really the only thing that makes sense," states Edwards. "You can't hire in greater numbers than actually exist in the labor force."

Making California's Goals Run On Time

The second facet of Gov. Wilson's reforms addresses how departments are allowed to use their goals and timetables. Preferences, which are what the CCRI would outlaw, have to manifest themselves in a process. It is theoretically possible, as those at the personnel board uniformly claim, that goals and timetables are used merely as a census-like device to help managers examine their hiring processes and strengthen their outreach efforts. Edwards points out that there are two components of affirmative action programs, as they have traditionally been implemented: preferential and non-preferential. Non- preferential affirmative action--or, in popular terms, "equality of opportunity"--focuses on ensuring that recruitment efforts are broad and that selection processes and criteria are free of bias. Preferential affirmative action includes programs and practices that treat people unequally in order to ensure an equality of result.

Wilson's order eliminated preferential affirmative action. Specific practices that were discontinued or prohibited include:

• Using separate hiring lists for hiring individuals from protected groups;
• Requiring managers to write letters justifying the hiring of a white person when there were individuals from protected groups on the short list;
• Allowing a department's affirmative action officer to unilaterally veto a hire;
• Evaluating managers, in part, on how well they meet their affirmative action goals; and
• Requiring that either a woman or a minority sit on every hiring panel.

Barnett, the personnel board chief, maintains that the focus under the new system is on ensuring that the process is fair. "The key is to make sure that your qualified candidate pool resembles the relevant labor force and then rely on your selection criteria to be unbiased to get proportional representation," he says.

At least on paper, it appears that the board has succeeded in crafting an affirmative action program that doesn't rely on preferences. As such, it provides an example of how affirmative action will look in post-CCRI California. "The E.O. has accomplished in the state service what the CCRI will accomplish more broadly, which is taking preferences out of our employment processes," explains Ted Edwards, who nevertheless opposes the CCRI for not giving government officials enough flexibility. "The CCRI does not in and of itself eliminate affirmative action. Affirmative action is broader than just preferential actions."

Twofer White Males?

Even Ward Connerly, the outspoken chairman of the CCRI campaign, voices support for the parameters of the state personnel board's new program. "The California Civil Rights Initiative is designed to end affirmative action programs that grant preferences based on race, ethnicity, and sex, but we really want government agencies to examine their hiring practices to make sure they do not discriminate," states Connerly. "What the state has done under Governor Wilson's leadership is a clear example of what can be done in a post- CCRI era."