By the mid-1980s, Christine had moved up to GS-13, but even with the doctorate, she was having problems breaking into GS-14. On the other hand, a white male engineer who had started at the same time, with similar quality performance reviews, had already hit the GS-15 level. Gloria knew the Langley way: “Present your case, build it, sell it so they believe it.” She created a bar chart and showed it to the head of her directorate—a manager one level down from the top of Langley—who was shocked at the disparity. With Gloria’s efforts, the promotion came, and after it, the renown and the mobility
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