The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

concern that the culture of the Foreign Service treats specialists as second-class embassy citizens. “I thought the culture would be more inclusive but find there are many divisions and hierarchies that exist between cones, generalist vs. spe- cialist, regional differences, etc.,” says Kerri Hannan, a public diplo- macy officer now serving in New Delhi. A facilities maintenance spe- cialist writes from a post in Latin America that, “Specialists are hired because they have a specialty — they have vast, valued experience in their field. It’s discomfiting to find that FS generalists believe them- selves to be more important to the mission than specialists, and act this way. We had no clue this was the case before joining the Foreign Service.” Speaking about a culture of bureaucracy at State, a management officer serving in Asia writes that, “The vast majority of Foreign Service officers have been beaten down by an oppressive bureaucracy for so long that they have become apathet- ic and risk-averse. It is sad to see the talents of so many capable officers being squandered by an inefficient bureaucracy that does not reward individual initiative and creativity.” “[The Service] is fairly con- formist,” notes one of four new hires commenting from Seoul. “It seems like the tenuring and up-or-out sys- tems encourage people to go with the flow. This stifles new ideas at times and can be especially discour- aging to the newer people coming into the FS who have prior work experience.” In the focus group session, the participants expressed frustration with a culture they see as assuming there is a spouse free to handle all family matters — usually the woman. Sara Lechtenberg Kasten, part of a tandem couple, points out that for tandem couples, “There is a subtle assumption that the husband’s career is more important, that it’s okay to send him ahead and let the wife take care of pack-out and everything else. It’s unstated, but I don’t think people realize that modern families operate as a unit.” “We will change the culture,” is a common refrain from new hires. As expressed in the focus group and through the survey, they assess their significance in terms of sheer num- bers. “The large influx from the DRI will cause the FS culture to change over the next several years,” writes a single, male economic offi- cer in Asia. “I believe for the bet- ter.” A management officer who joined in 2004 notes that, “I can tell that the Foreign Service culture is in the process of some major changes. My class is about as diverse as I had hoped, and I get the impression J U N E 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35