The Foreign Service Journal, December 2016

16 DECEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL in December 2014. Earlier this year, the United States reopened its embassy in Havana. Republicans in Congress have opposed Pres. Obama’s calls for lifting the Cuban embargo, arguing that the United States has made too many concessions to Cuba in exchange for too little in return, especially on human rights matters. Although it is only a symbolic move, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described the abstention as a “positive step for the future of improving relations between the United States and Cuba.” —Katherine Perroots, Editorial Intern Pay Parity in Federal Jobs A ccording to a Washington Post analy- sis of federal workers, since 2004, the percentage of women in clerical jobs has dropped by 9.9 percent, while the number of women in “professional” jobs has risen by 7.2 percent. Women also account for a growing portion of federal workers with advanced degrees (a 20.5-percent increase from 2004). For jobs in engineering, technology and science, women enjoy near pay parity with their male counterparts. However, women hold one third (or fewer) of the jobs in those fields. Across all jobs, the longer a woman has worked for the federal government, the less likely she is to see pay parity with male colleagues in the same job. Women who have worked for more than 30 years see a very significant pay gap with men with the same education and job type. A woman’s overall likelihood of earn- ing more than a man also depends on which agency she works in. If men and women were evenly distributed among federal jobs and pay ranges, it would be expected that women would make more than men about half the time (i.e., they would have a 50-percent chance of earn- ing more than a man in the same job with the same qualifications). However, for the Department of State, there is only a 40.2-percent chance that a woman will be earning more than a man in the same job with the same level of education. The Department of Homeland Secu- rity is the closest to achieving parity, as women working for DHS have a 47.5-per- cent chance of being paid more than a man with the same qualifications. At the bottom of the list, a woman working for the Department of the Air Force is only 34 percent more likely to be earning more than her male counterparts. —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor President Obama Guest Edits Wired Magazine W ired , a monthly magazine which focuses on emerging technologies and their effects on culture, politics and the economy, invited President Barack Obama to guest edit their November 2016 edition. Centering this issue on “Frontiers,” Pres. Obama discussed the changes in the world since he graduated from college in 1983 and how those, mostly positive changes have been achieved. Obama notes: “This kind of progress hasn’t happened on its own. It happened because people organized and voted for better prospects; because leaders enacted smart, forward-looking policies; because people’s perspectives opened up, and with them, societies did too.” The U.S. president also noted that there are still many challenges to be met, from terrorism to climate change; and the only way to combat this “new threat set” is to work together to solve problems that transcend national boundaries. “That’s how we will overcome the chal- lenges we face,” Obama said, “by unleash- ing the power of all of us for all of us.” —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor Wonder Woman Named Honorary U.N. Ambassador I n October, the DC Comics character Wonder Woman was named honor- ary United Nations ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. But , coming on the heels of a failed attempt to elect the first female secretary-general of the United Nations, many feminists Germany’s ties with the United States of America are deeper than with any country outside of the European Union. Germany and America are bound by common values—democracy, freedom, as well as respect for the rule of law and the dignity of each and every person, regardless of their origin, skin color, creed, gender, sexual orientation or political views. It is based on these values that I wish to offer close cooperation, both with me personally and between our countries’ governments. —German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking to reporters about the U.S. election results at a press conference in Berlin, Nov. 9. Contemporary Quote