REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN THE COVERT OFFICES OF CIA

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04718A002800020007-4
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• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2000
• Sequence Number: 7
• Content Type: REPORT

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TAB D
REPORT a? THE OONNITTEE ON WO=
IN THE COVERT CEFICES OF GU
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REPORT OF THE CUMNITTEE ON =EN IN THE GMAT OFFICES UP GIA
I.. INTRODUCTION
VIM the beginning of its study of women In CIA, the Panel On
eerier Service for Women ireoognised that the Situation of women in
the covert offices of the Ageney was different in many weys from that
at other' grouesof memon employees. One section of the panel, known
as the Field Oemmittee? undertook the'studY-of the.positiOn.oteemen
employeems eversese.repreeenting all Wipes of the Agency. 'The'Oom-
25X1A pitteeve investigations showed that, eineepest.uomen overseas wore in
the Office Of the Deputy Director (Plana), their situation =114 no
be properly oensidorad apart from their headquarters oontingent. As
a reseiti.the oommittee direoted its investigation toward both Heade-
=rs and overseas eomen A-rsonnel in the covert scoters.
The purpose of therstudy vas to learn ,hero von wore serving in
the covert offices, in what categories of employment (professional or
clerical, opeciflo profeesional groups), hoe they more dietribeted in
Headquartere and overseas, their grade levels, and their status oompared
with that of man in similar absignments.. The ultimate objective was to
ahem where women were being encases/NO.1y ueed and to indicate places
where they bight make -additional contributions to the Agency.
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Ae.-?BNMSZE.hriWOMOL
A consideration of the covert olomente of the'Agenoy along these
linos sheep that wpmen are employed both awerseas'and et.Reedquertoro
in al/ types of work, both professional and clerical. The greatest numw
ber of women are in the olerioal categories, and -the grade most commonly
held is GS-5. There are, however, 'women in all categories of professional
jobs, with the largeet number in operations and the next largest numbers
in analysis (information control, research, and rePorte). In eleribel
categories, as Waal/here in the Amoy, the number of %goon greatly ese-
coeds the =eater of men employees; in all profeetsional categories, the
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number and gement of man is.muoh largare *nal** crewed wopen in
nuiher and by percent in both Headquarters, and'overseas aged tO,
but the proportion of women to Men is anch mealier overseae at Head-
quartere 43 percent of eppleyeel are women, overteas.only 28 percent).
There are several professional categories in which the percentage
of women is eery small. Of these, adminietrative support, training,-
liaison, and translation appear to inolUde fewer women than might be
usefully assigned. *men are serving throughout the world; there are
few overeeee stations whioh have .no wows. NOB= personnel in small .
field stations are elecet entirely olerioal,.howeeer, and eomen in
evereeievel peestione'are aseigned to the mailer station; only intro.,
quently. ..ZOth overseas end at Headquertees women oocupy few eXecutiVe
popitions, and only two (Overeats') are in a higher position than section
chief. '
AsepeftliSLAIlkillb2tWeRsh
The groups considinkissolude covert offices and overseas personnel,
as followss
The MVP organisation, both Headquarters and overseas,
but excluding epsoiel projects and their installations0.
TES, as the clandestine portion of the Office of Training.
Overseas elsmente of the. Office of the Comptroller and ' -
the Office Comiunioations.
The unvouohered fUnds sections of the Logistics Office,
personnel under the Office of Operatians (overt).
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? Overeeas elements of Headquarters offices are usual] y attached to
Dp/p installations overseas and function themes part of the DWI) olipni.-
sation. They have not, therefore been oonsidered separately from DIY?
personnel, and since, upon returning to-Headquartersethey normally rs-
vert.te their own components, no consideration has been given to their
Headquarters status. Such overseas elements are of relatively small
25X1 A numbers& the MO complex inoludes by far
the greatest number of overseas personnel and consequently has received
the major emphasis.
The figures used in this study were compiled manually from DP/P
and other files, since no machine figures could be obtained which dis-
tinguished between field and Headquarters personnel. Bemuses the com-
pilation was made over the period of about a month, during ehioh time
there was some reassignment of slots within the DM/P and a transfer of
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oommanioation slots from the DD/P overseas to the Offies of Geneenteee
time, there are sow variations in emprehemsiveness of figpres from
division to division, awarding to the stage of the transfer uhet the
reoords were &oohed. The general percentages between field and Read-
quarters aed between men and women, however, appear to be little affeoted
by these disorepanoies an the general level.
Figures relate solely to positions aotually held and to the grade
rating of the holder, vaeanoies and differenoes between slot rating and
actual rating have not been rev:seeded, Military peritoneal, where they
are assigned to regpler noaentlitery slots, have been wonted as heading
the rating of the slots sinoe there appears to be ne sonsistener it
military rank with slot rating. ? Military personael in purely
military poeitions ad military alots havenot been insludid. The large
projeet complexes and installations of specialieei native have also been
omitted, became their employment situation depends tee much upon the
requirements of the projeet to be typioal of overeeas installations?
Meet such establishments, ofellitary or pareemilitary typo, are composed
almost entirely Of mene the only women employees being a very small
number ofellerioal personnel.
Analysis of personeel positions has been made ill two eayss by grade,
showing weber anipereentage of men and of women, and by general cate-
gories of work, showing weber*, grade ranges and numbers in sadh grade
Within the ream for eaoh category of both man and women, an peroentages
of men and of women in eaoh category. Each of these sets of figures is
divided again beton headquerters Ani field. In addition, over-all
tabulations have been nade of the total number of pereannel in eaoh cate-
gory and in eanh grade and the peroentages of men and women and of both
groups in headquarters and overseas.
The general categories of employment have been considerel'in three
major groups under the following headings*
Professional -- Executive, Executive Support, Adeinistrative
eupoort, Ane/ysis, Operations, Editing and
?ublishing, Graphics, Liaison, Statistics,
library, Training, Translation, Technical,
eommunioations, Medical.
Supervisory
inerical ee Machine; Operators.
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Definitions of the positions inoluded under each eategary appear in
ib it A.
Tabulations of position:" of ?overt pereoratal incbcde preeentation
by division, staff, or office or the total poraonnel.atrength, the
number anti percent of men and UCCiliti in each oategory and in each grade,
at Headquarters and overseas; prenentation by category of the number
and pereent of men and woman at Headquarters and overseas; ani an
analysis of LOA age and grstde distribution -et (16 staff employees-and
eta? 'agents on 30 June 1953. All tahantd.one swept the last. were pre.
pared by the ocamittees the 11)/P anakysin use. prepared by the Personnel
OfTioe0
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II, FINDIIGS AHD CONCLUSIONS
he;..-SistliktUat
L. The DD/P has been considered as the type office for examina-
tion, since it employs all tut a smalI percent of the covert personnel
of the Agency. Statistics free the Headquarters offices with overseas
elements could not, because of their emphasivon Headquarters Organiza-
tion and the very small umbers of It women calgoyed in the field, '
be fairly =anted in the covert offices, .Fieures or overeeas employment
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few these offing have been tabulated* but percentages and nest figares
have beep based iney On the VD/P field and Headquarters, The tiger's
frem other offloes produeo no dieervenner j f of mon and '
muse is field aseignmeete or in prefeseienal categories.
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25X9A2 2, Of the pereame employed it the DD/P offices, 36 percent, .
cfrM nrs loupe, Oftheee, aepeceimately 60 peroent ate in clerinal
peatlifis and 18 poreent.inesupervieeey or intermediate categorise, the. 25X9A2
remainder in professioeal cetegorieseele geographie distribetion,
or 41 peroent, are overseeil. they nehe up 21 peroent of all overawe
pereconel.
3.
The *tette and emblems ofemeeneiel the clerical and supervisory
categories were studied lei the Clericel Committee of the Vemenos Panel,
and no great additions amid be made to their findings mitt regard to
covert employe-mt. PostKon in the covert Wiese or overseas does not
differentiate mothers of these oetegories from their oounterparts in
overt ?Moss, It ineected that women in these categories are employed
in almost all regimens ?Mena and in nmey of the Oilier stations (under
five 4genee Weamnel) in the field are the only woressenitbreees at the .
statieh, For these cverseas VOCtanit Administrative Assistant is/th)
olaasification generale. LOA* but tnere are some elassified as stovAtmo ?
stenographer or intelligeece assistant; the usual rating is Gre.5 to 0,140.
4e The situation of peefeasional women in leadqUerbers offices has
been studied by the Prefeuelonal Committee* and iti findirge apply to some
extent to professionaImenen in the covert offices, but there are some
.circumetanees peculiar to the DD/P which not be considered separatele.
Profeasional status baa been deternined on the basis of job title and
funotion rather than grade, since operations officers, translaters0 re-
ports officers, training anomie, and some other profeesiocal classifi-
cations include personnel rated as low as GS44:azd ociasienally GS40
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The assignuont ot Ommmammt to categoriea. was entirely arbitrary. No
conaisteney in classifleatian and title exists bstusen-officies and divi-
sions of the covert sectervostegorise had to be deternined on the haste
of position an&responsibility tether than title.. - -
5. The largest nuebor of professional perms:mil appears in the
operations eategory. Other professional grouts are repreeented by rel.
atively small numbers, particularly where functions 00 services (suCh
U sone Lopata of finance and oupply, statietioal wor), publication,
libraries, and machine operations) are contributed to the eovert offices
by other oomponeeto. Operations in fact containe more persernel than
statistics iodioate, since many,Officors in executive or emeoutive sup"
port oategories are aetnally operations offioers. In the field. these
categories are composed lergely:of station and.miseion ?hien,' their
deputies and staff memborre most of uh.on are operation's officers with al
rash oPeratieval se omeoutive fenotion.
4. The largest profeasiotal oategary of women, inelmding eight
poroent of all women employees in the Db/P, is operations * There are
women (15 percent of operations officers) in the, *Anon', the
greater Aer in Headquarters; the percentage deoreames sharply in the
fields
Overall litadassztua
191fil arias =a&
Men
Woman
Grade classifications in the operations category run from G5.5 to (S.17
for in and from GB.5 to CS-14 for women. Two women G3-14ge are opera-
tions officers, although one, as a deputy *hist of station, appears in
the executive support category.
? 7. In the categories of executive support and administrative sup-
port, which show the next greatest concentrations of etrength after
operations, representation of women is proportionately even smaller.
Only in the category of analysis-, in all three of its sections, is there
a greater percentage of women. With a few exceptions in operations and
executive categories, thir is the only category in which women hold ad-
ministrative positions each as section chief, in either field or headquarters.
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EXtribit Ds ries of number and percent of man and
vegan in eaoh. category in the DEO staffs
and divisions,'
?
Eehibit Es Analysle of DDIP agsvand grade dtstribOtione
of GS steff employees And staff agents au
)0
June 1953,
.1.3. Amon:covert peeponnele wometehold positions in all the prise.
fesslonal tegoriesealthough.their tatters are aleeeyeemell in Game
parieon with the neer of mae. The hieeest conceptratien of wemen in
the erofessioral gecepo in the IiD/P la in operations* eihioh alga hes the
heavient . nitration of men. After thise thee:natant nueber'ofpre-
fessional wenn, is in the'oategortes of analysis (Infommation Controloe
Research and Reports)p and in administrative and exeeutive suppert.-
The pro0Ortlop2 in these lestAyo categorise are much =eller than in:
the operations; and analysis; pinups:. It is.principelly in the enalyels
categoey that ',men have attelmed ;cantons es section chiefs,-
14, Geographic remoteen s and difflonIty of 'Living oonditions ape
pear to present little obetrestion to the stationing Of wonen,oversees.
The fact that most 140PPla in POell.statiOns are adenietratiie and clekical
personnel and that few are eperational even in the larger statiens re-
fleets a oammonly oneressed objeotion to Wotan handling opeeetione in
the field. Ansignment of vakee,to field operations is limited by the
neopselty for CIA to eaaDene to. the =stone and restrietione impoeed by I
American organizations abratel which it uses far cover andesuppoet
poses; by by local mores and attitudes in the foreign area which might hempte
a waten in operations; by problems of:plausible cover; and by ;situations;
in which women might not have access to ietelligenq eibjeotives, In
covert offiereep aleop Veen Ihe emphasis is on pereemilitary aotivitiesp
few woman are qualified for operations work.
9A6.2immax.ft,'"Oli ' tau
15, In view of the florae shown abaft and. in the attached ethibits,
it appears that the fields of analyeise operations and administration -
offer the bast possibilities for career advancement for women in covert
offices. In the field of oPerationso the greater nuaber of women -16 at
Reaiquerterae with a mneh smaller number and a very =soh smeller percent
in the field, This differential reflects the idea held by some men in
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operational and mantis* polities. that %mien are not suited to partie
cipate aotively or would not be prjessionally adequate in direot agent
handling in the field, me well aa in other details of field operations.
That this idea is fillaolous is shown by the suiessefel operational careers
of a number of gam in earitue.geographical arms and the general ac-
ceptances. of wemen-im tho operational offices at Washington and field,
headquarters. In some types Of operations and.in eone-teohniques, women
have advantages over von and can be used Morireffeetivelr, The field of
operations offers numerous arose possibilities to tense irith imagina-
tion, energy, and aggressievoise. Good operational personnel are always ?
at a promise, and a wines with ix flair in this sChlootiainvaluable.
16. The analysis protessioms are often repognieod in the operational
sector as being eartionlarly suited to women. Thiry do not nate the teohei.
eel, physical, amd professional demands of OPerationss end they offer
o ngo Myths utilization eUresearoh, editorial,:aid'related skills
in a field whtee nen -appear to feel less interest thiamin ?poeticism.
lloadquertern researoh and reports staff!. at all Imola contain many wombat)
and reports womk in the field is often handled by wenn. The reports and
avanterespionage sections have more 1001401111. chiefa than a' other categoay.
th reports end connterespionage offer *sealant -openings for advanoement
to executive pSeitions and proVide enoollentimokgroumd for women who wish
to enter operatienal work.
170 inougrAtegeriee in the meiert offices in which women arc not
* greet forme bet where more sight be able to Work are administrative
etteecett lenifeemetive support. .WerMn of lower rating hold administrative
poeittele such as. administrative, pereennelor intelligence assistant,
and there are poesibilities.far qualified maw\in higher'ratinge.: Here
emphasis coed be Owed cc e selecting wonen.fer:administrative support
fuPotians such.an. personnel ocumneling and 'welfare. '
18. Professional fio13s in Which fie womenare.empIoyed but where
they might be?of:ceneiderabie-ealue aretranslatieuvliaison and training.
There is little necessity for translators at Headquarters, bet in the.
field where there ie a constant need, more women might be employed? ? A
factor in favor of Womee as translators is that men assigned to this werc.
are often interrupted to assist with operational-duties0 gealified:women
translators are available, and women might also be trained for thigework-:
through the AgeneylingUage:programe.- In liaison, although the statement
is often made that American ageedien will not accept women liaison
offieere, there are neer simples of suosissful liaison alatieities con-
ducted by women. In the field and operationallyvwomen have sato ad-
vantages in liaison with foreign services, where theyusually receive more
courteous treatment than may be thought neoeseary for men and are able to
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ask for infermatime and coaceesions not always easy for men to obtain,
The third field, training, could use more women in notors in which woman
are specially qualified or numerous, suah as reports, research, analysis,
and some phases of operation*, as wall as in administration.
19 Desause Of *Weal ocesiderations and technical requirements
there id] always be same fields in which far imam mill he quiAifiedo
This shaald net prevent the employment of women gho are qualified and
interested in sudh work. In communications the reason for the Smellabr
number of masa empleyees usually cited is that few women have the teehni-
cal backgramel ca. the intereet needed in the field, Many aspects of
physical security positions, sone impacts of training, amd in the mid
same of supply handlingsnd military and'Paraemilitary operations, dem? and
physical strength and professional experience few on possess.
20. It has teen pointed out above "that opportunities in some fielde
are nu& better far wean at Headquartora than in the field. In the
omaller field tations mime official cover and other specifications af-
foot the selection, of CIA representatives, opportunities for wamen will
probably always be relatively few in the operational field, In the larger
stations under official ewer and in the large fieli bates and missions,
there is maple possibility for games to work in all phases of Agency aoti-
vities. There are very few overseas CIA stations or missions with no
women employees. It is not the unwillingeoss of women to travel or the
inability to acme with foreign onvirorments which limits the number or
women employed in the fieldeep the large number of women employed over-
seas indicatee,
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III. HICOMIDATIONS
Many of the problems which, face personnel in the covert offioes
are net striet/y related to women bet apply equal* to men, There aro,
however, same cireunstanees whin!' apply specifioal/y or more generelly
to meow. For many problems, such eS headquartere-field rotation, re-
lations between the eowert Wiese and other 04:moments Of the Agency
in mord to rotatiaccof personnel, and limitations of employment for
women in went offices, no adequete imitation Gan be offered, Sone
reesamendaticno ore made, hoeuterer, comoerning *pectin', fectors aft-eating
'women in *evert Wiese.
A0 anagoiMaillniALEADIMILliandilttiCSOUMMU0
It itcrecommembni that moms method be arranged by which- personnel
returning _to Headquarters fron 04700,18 aseignments gay reoeive guidance
for their future careers. Every returnee is faced with the problem of
deciding whether to return to the field in .his own Or same other area,
to -remain in Headquertere in his tam division or in acme other division
or staff, or to transfer into some component ;outside upip. Many re-
turnese are unfomiliar with Headquartezs organization, 4th the positions
and types of work available, and with the possibilities of troneferring
into other Dp/p.offices ornother oonponents of the Agency. Moot person-
-nal returning fres an assignment are offered little guidance or orienta-
tion, and unless there is an immediate denand for his particular ability,
a returnee May go throttle& long period of uncertainty aud dionscmfort
before he, finds a euitable peat/on ta'Headquarters or decides to return
to the field.
It is recommended, therefore, that seem provision be =de to enable
returnees to reeeive information and guidance on positions available and
to acquaint themselves with the general organization of Headquarters
offices nnd components, Guidance service should include a discuesion of
the interests and abilities of the individual and where he might be most
useful to the Agen&y, and also the training required and the speoial train-
ing available. Women returnees should also be allowed to offer ax y comments
on field problems affeoting women in the area from vhich they have come
and suggestions for their sobation.
The means of establishing such a Headquarters counselor for field
personnel adght be to place an officer in Central Proeseeing or in each
of the Dn/P senior staffs. Suoh a coounselor should be above the level
of the geographical division but should work closely with personnel and
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placement artless of the divisions and staffe, The assigneent of a
counselyr to a large base or miapion to advise personnel abroad before
they retuen to Headquarters might also be he1p011.
On the Headquarter& side, arrangements eight be made to enable
employees who are ibterested in overseas assignmeets to obtain informa-
tion throe a counselor an conditions and possibilities in various amaze.
Sue* a. sereise night be an important teeter in employee morale in inform-
inuemployoes inadvanee of the condition* they are likely :to 'mounter
and the adjuetments they 'y have to make, as well as of the advantages
and inducements in. particular foreign aesignments,
B0
"
?,eee 'eer
It Is seggested that the oppeetenity available throngh training far
entering or advansing in a professional field maoh ae operations or analysis
be pUblielsed meg woven Aortas,
The ocurees now available in TraiMing make it possible for Agency
perscnnel to Acquire background knowledge and proteesional training in
aU lines of Agency. aotivitiee. According to the present practiosse
oovert personnel are entered in training ceurses on the basic) of their
positions and job aseigements. If an employee wishes to change his as-
signment and to take instruction is pome other field, he mast, .1:69th pass
an assessment for attitude in the new line and reoeive the appreval of
Kt s bench ohief.for the =arse he wish. This possibility of entering
cperatione4reporting, CE and other types of work is open to men and
women alike.
It in suggested that this means or impreving proforma-owl statue be
Made oIear to women employees, partioalarly in the lower profeselonal and
intermediate oategories, either through counseling or through a pallo.
information progrem within the oovett offices, It is further -suggested
that mown who apply for suet courses Mould, if their assessment is
favorable, be given the approval of their brand' chiefs for taking the
4:sourest, and that if they show ability in the'opurse and pass it success-
fully, some provision be made for assigning them to anew.job in the line
of the study undertaken.
BangeetAn-greinte
It le recommended that more reeognitiem be given, throue. higher-
eating& or aseignment to exeoutive positions, to women who have shown
outstanding ability arid achievement.
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A few women in the ?overt Wiese of the Avency have attained ratings
of GS44 and a few more of GS43., The proportitn is still very small in
comparison with the numbs r of memdbolAing these and higher retinae. MOre-
over, as Amoy records showy womenuses14 ho] ratings one to three
grades lower than those of men in cereearable ponitions.
In consid ring employees for new retinae and promotions, attention is
sometimes given to external factors saoh active aloonomic Oligetione q!" the
eandidate. Nen with famillise end bmmaing oommitmnts mey receive preform*,
pertl* on the basis of their need for the mono*. Xis suggested that, in
determining position rat-thee? end Pronotionsy the only factors which ehould
be considered are the work done and the qualificemiems of the individual.
Woman who are well quelified-and experienced shcaed reeelve the same retinap
and promotion oppartunities an men of coma:arable leckoreundy experienee?
and job performance.
A statement which has been maAle at various times ly MC in different
offices is: ,,Ask bera She isn't the shier of tho sestleep het she Se?
the one who koala about IA.! It is suggested that when a woman le ac-
knowledged to be an authority in bar position she tiloulA reoeive more than
this type of mnoffioial reooanition of her ab1litiel4 either in terns of
executive Position such as section chief or in highsv job ratingver in
both.
Approved For Release 2000/08/1724C,JA-RDP78-04718A002800020007-4
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