Executive Order 12138: Creating a National Women's Business Enterprise Policy and prescribing arrangements for developing, coordinating and implementing a national program for women's business enterprise
Summary
Jimmy Carter signed Executive Order 12138 on May 18, 1979 to establish a national policy supporting women's business enterprise and to coordinate executive agencies' work in that area. It addresses assistance, training, information, procurement and nondiscrimination, and establishes an interagency committee. The order is broader than a single modern contracting program. A current women-owned small-business set-aside has additional statutory and regulatory eligibility rules; the order's general policy does not itself certify a business or guarantee an award.
Status: In effect. Yes. As amended. EO 12138 remains identified in current Federal Acquisition Regulation part 19 as an authority for small-business acquisition policy. Its directions are expressly limited by statutory authority and law. Current program eligibility and award rules come from the applicable statutes and regulations, not an assumption that every 1979 administrative arrangement is unchanged.
Key facts at a glance
| Signed | May 18, 1979 |
|---|---|
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Federal Register | 44 FR 29637; published May 22, 1979 |
| Current label | In effect |
| Amended by | EO 12608 |
| Related orders | EO 12608 |
| Checked | October 25, 2026 |
What it requires today
Within their lawful authority, agencies must take appropriate action to facilitate, preserve and strengthen women's business enterprise and support full participation in the free-enterprise system. The identified areas include management and financial assistance, education, training, counseling, information and procurement. The order's repeated legal qualifications matter: an agency cannot rely on a general policy sentence to disregard a statutory condition, spend unappropriated money or adopt a measure prohibited by law.
For specified federal financial assistance, section 1-101 calls for regulations supporting women's business enterprise and prohibiting discrimination on the ground of sex. It also addresses notice of noncompliance and efforts to secure voluntary compliance before sanctions, unless law provides otherwise. The definition of assistance excludes the stated insurance or guaranty contracts. The actual agency rule and program statute determine how these directions apply in a particular setting.
The order's examples of affirmative action include responsive programs, incentives, information and access to business services. If numerical set-asides or similar measures are used, the text requires a stated purpose and pertinent factual findings of discrimination and need. That is not an unrestricted command to reserve every contract by sex. Modern statutory contracting programs have their own lawful eligibility, certification and competition requirements, which must be examined independently.
Who it affects
Executive agencies with relevant assistance, business-development and procurement functions have direct duties. Women's businesses and potential entrepreneurs can encounter the resulting services and programs, while federal assistance recipients may have obligations under applicable implementing rules. SBA has administrative support responsibilities for the interagency framework. Eligibility for a particular business service or contract still depends on that program's law and requirements; a business's inclusion in the order's broad policy category is not an automatic award decision.
How it came about
The preamble responds to findings about women's participation in business, obstacles facing entrepreneurs and the potential contribution of small and women-owned enterprises to employment and growth. Carter adopted an interagency approach because relevant programs were spread across government. EO 12608 amended committee membership terminology in 1987. Subsequent legislation and regulations developed the modern women-owned small-business contracting system, so the 1979 order should be presented as part of that history rather than the sole source of every current feature.
What agencies did under it
Current FAR 19.000 expressly lists EO 12138 among the authorities implemented by the small-business programs part. That is positive contemporary evidence for the continuing status label. The rest of part 19 and applicable SBA regulations establish detailed acquisition and eligibility requirements. Merely finding the order's number in an authority paragraph does not establish that an applicant satisfies those requirements or that a particular contracting officer must select that business.
The order establishes an Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise to promote, coordinate and monitor relevant plans and programs. It assigns support responsibilities to SBA and calls for assessments, consultation and development of coordinated efforts. These written organizational duties do not themselves prove that a particular current committee roster, meeting or report exists. A claim about an actual modern meeting would need the corresponding current administrative record.
Later executive policies concerning discrimination, preferences or agency structures require attention to their operative text and implementation. They should not be treated as silently revoking every older business-policy instrument with related terminology. The reviewed current FAR still cites EO 12138, while the order itself requires action consistent with law. This guide therefore distinguishes continuing authority, the status of individual administrative arrangements, and the law governing each current business or procurement program.
Implementation records: Current FAR part 19, including EO 12138 authority; SBA rules for the women-owned small-business federal contract program.
Amendments and family tree
EO 12608 amended the committee provisions in 1987. The modern small-business statutes and SBA/FAR regulations are separate legal developments rather than executive amendments to every paragraph of EO 12138. Later orders on business policy, contracting or equal opportunity can affect programs within their actual scope, but related subject matter alone does not establish an express whole-order revocation. The continuing-status conclusion here rests on the reviewed disposition and the current FAR's positive reference.
Court cases
No court ruling specifically on EO 12138 was identified in the official order, disposition and agency sources reviewed as of October 25, 2026. A challenge to a procurement preference or program eligibility rule would require its particular statutory basis and factual record. General support for women’s enterprise does not decide the legality of every measure an agency might adopt. This guide does not infer judicial approval of an individual set-aside from the order’s continuing citation in the FAR.
Common questions
Does the order guarantee a contract to a women-owned business?
No. It directs lawful agency policy and coordination. Current contracting programs have their own eligibility, certification, competition and award requirements. An applicant cannot infer an entitlement to an award simply from the order's support for women's enterprise.
Is the 1979 policy identical to the current WOSB program?
No. The presidential policy is one part of the history and current authority framework. Modern women-owned small-business contracting operates under additional statutes and regulations, including SBA and FAR requirements that the original order does not fully specify.
Does the order require unlimited numerical set-asides?
Its text places conditions on numerical set-asides or similar measures, including purpose and factual findings, and repeatedly limits action to what law permits. The lawfulness of a current measure requires its specific statutory and regulatory basis and relevant facts.
Does the committee's written charter prove it is meeting now?
No. The order establishes responsibilities, but a current roster or meeting is a factual implementation question. This guide does not infer actual meetings, reports or appointments merely from the continued presence of an unrevoked charter.
Legal basis
The order invokes presidential authority and expressly operates within statutory powers and other legal limits. Current FAR part 19 also cites the Small Business Act and related acquisition statutes. Those independent laws matter both to the continuing framework and to its boundaries. A broad policy favoring opportunity does not authorize an agency to disregard current nondiscrimination law or a specific program's award conditions.
Further reading
Sources
Cite this page
EO Explained, “Executive Order 12138: Creating a National Women's Business Enterprise Policy and prescribing arrangements for developing, coordinating and implementing a national program for women's business enterprise”, checked October 25, 2026. https://eoexplained.com/historic-orders/historic-12138-creating-a-national-women-s-business-enterprise-policy-and-prescribing-arrangements-for-developing-coordinating-and-implementing-a-national-program-for-women-s-business-enterprise. Include an access date when citing this dated account. For the presidential instrument itself, cite 44 FR 29637 and the official text.
Last checked
. EO 12138 was checked against its signed record, current disposition and cited implementation sources for the status and scope described above. Report an error or a later official source.