CAREER OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-00569R000100080039-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Sequence Number: 39
• Publication Date: March 26, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/17: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100080039-2
AWINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL UJSWL'TLY
MEMORANDUM FOR: Thomas B. Cormack
Executive Secretary
Deputy Chief, History Staff
STAT
REFERENCE: Executive Director's Memo of 15 March
SUBJECT: Career Opportunity for Women
1. One contributing cause of the small percentage of women in
senior, and specifically supergrade, positions in the Agency is the
entrenched image of male, action-oriented leadership. Career
panels, engaged in what is essentially a co-option process, tend not
to consider adequately the assets and insights that other types of
people might bring to the top levels of Agency management.
2. The ultimate route to achieving a proportionate share of
responsibility for women lies in an assignment process which will
give women throughout their careers the same kind of opportunity to
demonstate ability, gain experience, and win peer acceptance that
has been the basis of the male career ladder. Progress is being
made in this area, but it remains a long-term solution that does not
address the current problem of image discrimination.
3. The record established in the Agency by women who have
pioneered in positions previously reserved for males is already
sufficient to demonstrate -- contrary to long-held views -- that
competent female intelligence officers can command the respect of
subordinates, work under difficult conditions, establish rapport
with agents and liaison counterparts, handle complex technology,
etc. Even so, more women who have won recognition and promotion
have been in the fields of research and analysis where their
contributions are tangible -- and hence more clearly competitive --
than in fields where evaluations have to be based on intangibles.
4. The suggestion that emerges from the above arguments is
that a specific effort be made, when supergrades are being chosen or
other personnel decisions at senior levels are being made, to
stimulate awareness that simply reproducing the same kind of
leadership will have the effect of excluding women, depriving CIA of
the full use of its available talent, and perhaps cutting off
constructive new ideas.
Distribution:
Orig - Adse
~- HS Chrono
1-RK
1 _.1 KM
ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/17: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100080039-2