ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Though the majority of NCUA's employees are still male, promotions at the agency do demonstrate the changing times, according to the agency's executive director, Len Skiles. "It does appear that the workforce of NCUA is changing and that is reflected in the pay raises to women," he explained. Of 157 promotions given at NCUA last year, 92 went to women, data obtained through Freedom of Information Act request revealed. Of 951 NCUA employees, 402 are women, according to Skiles. In the not-too-distant past, NCUA got into trouble for its hiring and promoting policies, which favored women and minorities. From August 8, 1997 through July 3, 1998, the Office of Personnel Management withdrew NCUA's hiring authority as a result. However, since then, Skiles said, "All the discrepancies noted during the previous period when OPM was with us have been corrected. That is no longer a problem." Even though the data showed that more women than men were promoted at NCUA, Skiles explained that represents the changing face of applicants, not any problems at NCUA. Many men who have been with the agency for a long time have reached the highest grade they can, he said, and though they continue to receive pay raises as warranted, they can not be promoted. As more women have entered the job market, more women earn promotions. Skiles added, "I do not believe there've been any women applicants to any senior level position in at least the last 18 months." Federal agencies can encourage employees to apply for promotions, but cannot just offer promotions. "I can't just give somebody a job. They have to apply for it," he explained about federal government hiring. Like anyone else, he said, some do not have the necessary experience and some just like their jobs the way they are, he said. However, in time, Skiles predicted that more women would be placed in the top positions. Going by percentage, pay increases have been fairly even between men and women. According to Skiles, Women in grades 9-12 received 11.31% pay increases on average, where as similarly situated men averaged 11.03%. [email protected]