United States Department of State

"As you become more senior, be prepared to be the only woman in a room of 10-20 men. Be prepared to witness your male colleagues being praised for simultaneously juggling parenting and work, especially when adversity hits (like a child sick day or a pregnant spouse) but don't expect your male colleagues to recognize your efforts to manage workplace and home commitments."

"Its not perfect, but the Foreign Service generally recognizes hard work and intelligence. While there will always be some who won't overcome their own biases, I think overall the work is great and I'm recognized for my contributions. Some bureaus are better than others, but the ones I've worked in have been positive experiences. I came from another agency prior to the FS and had a much different experience -- lots of entrenched bias and a view that women were all support staff. Again, not from everyone, but the attitudes were allowed to be expressed openly and were palpable."

"In general I do like my position and it is good for my career. However, from a female perspective, there are a lot of old white men in leadership positions. My office has taken some steps to address this, but it is hard and progress is slow; they have some difficulty recognizing some of their blindspots. I've noticed that when fellow female colleagues suggest an idea, it is often not heard until a male colleague seconds it or basically says the same thing. I've also seen women in the 30-40 range assumed to be interns or students, referred to as 'young', and have not seen this for men. I've noticed in my office women with advanced degrees are called by their first name while men with advanced degrees are more often called by their advanced degree titles + surname."