The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

office in a commercial building there, with no flag, no car, no classified infor- mation. Their visibility and profile are really quite unlike what you would see for an embassy or a consulate general. There is no additional cost to the taxpayer. An apartment in Toulouse costs less than one in Paris. There are no visa services. The [officers in these posts] learn to operate on their own. There is a very deliberate effort to make it low-profile, blend it in with the community. This approach strength- ens the Foreign Service corps. Every time we open one of these posts, we go to our diplomatic security colleagues for a security assessment. We don’t put an American any- where unless we think the security concerns are adequately addressed. Elsewhere, there are 600 unaccompa- nied positions. Service is for one year. We had 300 as of Sept. 11, 2001. I’m not certain we will have a great deal more. FSJ: Is it true that new entrants into the Foreign Service are close to 50 percent women? WRP: We’re almost at parity. We may pass it one day, who knows? We were 49 percent two years ago, 47 per- cent last year. FSJ: Not too long ago, it was 27 percent. WRP: I can’t remember my own class, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 27 percent was a pretty good number for my class in 1976. FSJ: Why do you suppose it has jumped from 27 percent to almost 50 percent? WRP: I think for lots of reasons. We have worked very hard to make the Service attractive for women. We have tried our best to give the women who come in jobs that are at the same level of seriousness and importance as the men get. And I think the nature of the work that we do gives women who want to take advantage of it a sense of independence about their own choice and about how they want to live their lives. It’s a clear alternative to a corporate structure. And it is still an extremely fulfilling professional life. FSJ: You’ve been around long enough to remember when the atmos- phere was not as welcoming. WRP: Yes, I can remember when it was not as welcoming for women or minorities. And I can remember the unstated assumption that men pos- sessed all the wisdom that was neces- sary on really important issues. [It was thought that] women could do other things. [It was an example of] the sort of old Ivy League heritage mentality. I can remember that. Since I didn’t come from that tradi- tion, I have a lot of feelings myself about how narrow-minded that was, 52 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 6