Presented through this dissertation using legislative, research, and case analysis is a description of the complex scope and responsibility of regulating and eliminating employment discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is tasked primarily with this duty at the federal and coordinating levels, yet there are limited studies which evaluate the efforts of the EEOC. This dissertation longitudinally tests three hypotheses to analyze areas of success and challenge within the work of the EEOC to reduce discrimination and increase equal employment opportunities.

(1) As measured through outcomes dispositioned by the EEOC and through tests of multiple regression across statute, this study failed to find evidence that educational initiatives of the EEOC directly affect the quality and quantity of subsequent charges filed. (2) This study also failed to find evidence of significant multiple regression relationships between monetary damages recovered by the EEOC and subsequent acts of discrimination in the workplace. (3) There are strong trends towards the equal employment of women and non-whites in prestigious positions over time. In contrast, non-whites are currently over-represented in non-prestigious positions and seem likely to remain so for the near future.

The failure of this study to find evidence of significant relationships between the preventative and punitive activities of the EEOC and subsequent charges of discrimination filed and dispositioned may suggest that the EEOC's current preventative and punitive activities are not as impactful as desired. However, this finding is statistically inconclusive due to the small sample of 20 years. Progress towards parity in prestigious positions has occurred in the workforce through diversity training and other efforts in society, including the work of the EEOC. Given this contrasting finding, the author suggests that the EEOC invest resources in creating a mandated and standardized workplace training curriculum to educate about the more complicated aspects of employment discrimination which arise in charges. Such a delivery method is already utilized by many businesses and may be a wise use of EEOC resources to achieve their vision of "Justice and Equality in the Workplace."