Summary: In May 1990 (see GAO/NSIAD-90-122), GAO reported that only about seven percent of Peace Corps volunteers were minorities and that recruiters had neither the incentives nor the tools to achieve minority recruitment goals. Minority representation among volunteers increased to about 12 percent by July 1991; however, the Peace Corps has not developed demographic and market data to help set realistic area office recruiting goals and to help recruiters locate qualified minorities. Also, recruiters' performance was still evaluated mainly on the basis of the number of volunteers recruited. Performance evaluations did not adequately consider factors like conducting minority outreach activities that may lead to greater minority recruitment. Minority representation among Peace Corps staff has changed very little, a situation Peace Corps officials attribute to the low number of minorities among returned volunteers, historically the source of most staff employees. Since the completion of this report, the Peace Corps has taken several steps to address the issues raised by GAO.
