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Background
The Workplace
The Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a national user facility
producing X rays for a wide range of scientific research.
The ALS was commissioned in early 1994, and gained Division
status at Berkeley Lab in 1998. The ALS has grown from
300 users in 1997 to 2,000 users in 2005, and has over
3,000 visitors a year from various academic, industrial,
governmental, and laboratory institutions. Currently, the
Division has 82 career employees, with another 90 matrixed
employees. Career employees increased by about 40% from
2004, as matrixed employees in the technical writer and
administrative job categories became career ALS employees.
For the purposes of assessment, Division career employees
are categorized by job category/job group and then further
by ethnicity/gender. The Division is comprised of seven job
categories, the largest job category being Scientific Professional
(Physicists) with 30 employees (37%) followed by Technical
Professionals with 17 employees (21%) and Technicians (accelerator
operators) with 8 employees (10%). In the less populated
job categories—Administrative Professionals, Officials/Managers,
Office Services and Operatives—there are a total of
19 employees (23%).
ALS diversity can be compared to the external availability
(EA) in the job market, where external availability figures
are taken from the 2000 US census. The following data are
taken from the Berkeley Lab Workforce Diversity Office:
Diversity Strengths at the ALS
- Scientific Professionals (Physicists), where minority scientific professionals are more than 50% above the job market EA.
- Diversity is high for African and Hispanic Americans in the Technicians category.
Diversity Challenges at the ALS
- Scientific Professionals (Physicists), where female representation is about 12% below availability.
- Technical Associates, where Asian/Pacific Islander American representation is significantly less than the labor-market availability.
Goals
- Increase applicant pools for women and minorities in the following job categories: Scientific Professional (female/Hispanic American), Technical Associates (Total Minority), and Accelerator Operators (Asian/Pacific Islander American).
- Continue to enhance the work environment by educating employees about the benefits of diversity in the workplace
Accomplishments in 2004
- Hired underrepresented employees through the ALS Fellowship program. Encouraged underrepresented groups to apply through the ALS Fellowship Web site.
- Continued summer student programs for local high-school students (i.e., Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, Vallejo students) by providing mentors to students.
- Continued ALS summer college internship programs by maintaining recruitment efforts to assure inclusion of minority organizations.
- Advertised our Division's educational Web site, MicroWorlds,
at conferences to provide additional information about
career opportunities at the ALS.
- Participated in the Laboratory’s postbaccalaureate
program with 2 students (one woman).
- Hired two, previously matrixed, female technical editor/writers.
- Diversity communication has continued to be an ALS strength:
reported on diversity at Division reviews and Town Meetings;
provided a bulletin board at the ALS to display the value
of diversity; was included in the ALS annual Activity Report
special events; represented LBNL at the Women in Science
conference; and coordinated the Division’s Diversity
Committee with the activities of the Laboratory’s
Best Practices Diversity Council.
- Participate in CSEE science education program that brings every fifth-grade Berkeley student to the Laboratory and the ALS for hands-on activities and an introduction to scientific careers.
- Organize specialized tours and meetings with scientists
for Berkeley Biotechnology Education, Inc. (BBEI)
to introduce at-risk students to technical careers in the
sciences.
Action Items for 2005
- Continue multifaceted communication and outreach activities directed at underrepresented populations to inform them of ALS educational and career opportunities.
- In addition to the existing broad base of contacts with local and national university engineering and scientific organizations, develop ”living lists” and contacts for underrepresented groups.
- Working with CSEE, pair underrepresented students with mentors.
- Working with the Laboratory’s Best Practices Diversity Council, pilot a strategic recruitment program at ALS.
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