Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

New State Department report on its workforce doesn’t address religious diversity

“We are looking for ways to expand future data studies beyond that but face human as well as financial resource constraints,” a representative of Foggy Bottom’s diversity and inclusion office told JNS.

State Department
The South entrance of the Harry S. Truman Federal Building which is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of State. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress

The U.S. State Department’s diversity and inclusion office released its first-ever demographic baseline report on June 23, drawing on two years of data.

The report, which is to be annual, per a release, “provides a bureau-by-bureau description of the department’s workforce data—broken down by race, ethnicity, sex, disability, grade/rank and job series/skill codes.”

“The data allows the department to assess whether its workforce reflects the rich diversity of our nation,” the department stated. “The data is also used to examine if there are potential anomalies that may be indicative of a barrier to equal employment opportunity.”

JNS asked the State Department what its data suggests about religious diversity in its workforce, and particularly about the controversial question of Jews and race. “This is a great question,” Robb Dooling, public diplomacy detailee at the department’s diversity and inclusion office, told JNS.

“As of now, the current data only covers race, ethnicity, sex, disability, and those then broken down by grade/rank, and job series/skill codes,” he said. “We focused initial data studies on these categories, because they are the categories with statutorily-mandated reporting requirements per the 1964 Civil Rights Act.”

“We are looking for ways to expand future data studies beyond that but face human as well as financial resource constraints,” he added.

Menachem Wecker is the U.S. bureau news editor of JNS.
“We will not rest in the mission to stop the spread of radical Islam,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated.
The panel conducts research on antisemitic activity and works with public and private entities on statewide initiatives on Holocaust and genocide education.
“If it’s something that families are attuned to, then I think it may be a good way to engage the kids on that level,” Rabbi Steven Burg, of Aish, told JNS.
“I was a little surprised at the U.K. to be honest with you,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House. “They should have acted a lot faster.”
“It is imperative that university administrators rise to the occasion to take a firm stand against antisemitism and racial violence,” Sen. Bill Cassidy wrote.
Organizers say the program will equip participants to “build lasting bridges between communities.”