An information systems technician repairs a computer aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, June 28, 2022. A Rand Corp. review of Defense Department personnel records showed white males working similar high-tech jobs making more money on average than women and minorities. (Aaron Smith/U.S. Navy)
White men in high-tech Defense Department jobs earn more than their counterparts with similar skill sets, raising concerns about bias in career fields that are a Pentagon recruiting priority, a new study found.
The disparities held even after researchers at the Rand Corp. accounted for differences in worker and organizational conditions, such as duty locations and other criteria that could skew the results, the think tank said in its review of military personnel records.
The report, which was released Thursday, found “a significant unexplained compensation difference among White men and all other demographic groups,” adding that the pay inequities are “especially prevalent when White men are compared with Black men and women.”
“Our analyses cannot rule out the possibility that decision making biases affect compensation and could factor into compensation differences,” the report authors wrote.
The study comes as DOD struggles to recruit and retain civilian workers in the so-called STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Among the report’s findings: If Black women were compensated at the same level as similarly situated white men, they would receive an additional $7,500 annually on average, the report said.
While the pay differences between white and Asian men were relatively small, the disparity between the earnings of white men and Hispanic women employed by the department stood at nearly $12,000, almost double the difference found between other groups, the report said.
“These unexplained differences could be attributable to discrimination,” the report said. “However, additional analysis and data with other measurable information … would be required to further reduce the level of uncertainty.”
The study also found that women earned less than their male counterparts across the board, with white women earning 4% less than white men, Hispanic women 3% less than Hispanic men, Black women 4.4% less than Black men and Asian women 1.8% less than Asian men. All of the discrepancies were deemed statistically significant.
Rand recommended that DOD take numerous steps to address the differences, including an assessment to better grasp the underlying reasons for demographic-group disparities.
Since civilian personnel decisions tend to happen in local DOD units, addressing any potential inequities likely requires a local-level review of policies and practices, the report said.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense should direct subordinate service components to review how local policies and labor market conditions affect compensation in all demographic groups, the report said.
“The service components would then report findings from the assessments to OSD to review,” Rand said.
