Of those approximately 1,000 senior-level
positions, about 7. 6 percent are people of
color, according to the DiversityInc
investigation. Of that 7. 6 percent, 2. 9 percent
are black, 2. 8 percent are Asian
American, and 1. 9 percent are Latino. By
contrast, nearly 24 percent of the managers on The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50
Companies for Diversity list are people of
color— 9. 7 percent black, 7. 2 percent
Asian American and 6. 4 percent Latino—
and 15 percent of the most senior-level
executives at Top 50 companies—CEOs
and their direct reports—are people of
color— 6. 1 percent black, 4. 8 percent
Asian American and 3. 8 percent Latino.
“When you really get down to who is
calling the shots, who is making the recommendations of the people who are
being given interviews, it’s still a good-old-boy network,” says Robert Harris, a
legislative assistant in the House and vice
president of the Congressional Black
Associates, a networking group of black
congressional staff members.
The problem is exacerbated by the
scant attention the lack of diversity on
Senate staffs has received from the mainstream media, which is why DiversityInc
is highlighting this critical issue. “The
only reason why this problem hasn’t been
solved is that there has been a lack of
attention to it,” says Michael
Strautmanis, chief counsel for Sen.
Barack Obama, D-Ill.
A Picture Worth
a Thousand Words
It was a historic moment. Back in January,
then-Supreme Court nominee Samuel
Alito stood before the Senate Judiciary
Committee. The answers Alito would provide, in some small measure, would determine whether the Senate would confirm
his nomination to the nation’s highest
court—and whether he would have a say
on constitutional issues for decades. U.S.
News & World Report captured the
moment as Alito was being sworn in and
splashed the image across two pages in its
Jan. 23 issue.
172 | DiversityInc June 2006
Kolan Davis
Sen. Finance Comm.
Bruce Hock
Sen. Armed Serv. Comm.
Michael O’Neill
Sen. Judiciary Comm.
Terrence Sauvain
Sen. Approp. Comm.
Susan McCue
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Bruce Cohen
Sen. Judiciary Comm.
Andrea Becker
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Fred Downey
Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
Dean Zerbe
Sen. Finance Comm.
Michael Sullivan
