Perceptions of Discrimination. Moving Beyond the Numbers of Representative Bureaucracy

Despite legal efforts to eliminate employment discrimination, lawsuits and demonstrations suggest that many federal employees believe they are subject to discriminatory practices. This article analyzes responses to a governmentwide survey of federal employees in order to understand such perceptions more fully. Propositions examined, and at least partially supported, include that minority groups hold identifiable, but structurally different, belief systems with regard to discrimination, and that there are identifiable factors correlated with these perceptions.