US foreign policy's gender gap

[DonViejo]

19 Mar 2014 08:48
Sarah Kendzior

Sarah Kendzior is a St Louis-based writer who studies politics and media

US foreign policy needs greater diversity of skill and ideas, more women and a breakdown of economic barriers.

The dearth of women in US foreign policy is a subject of continual interest, mostly because it never changes. According to a 2011 survey by policy analyst Micah Zenko, women make up less than 30 percent of senior positions in the government, military, academy, and think tanks.

As of 2008, 77 percent of international relations faculty and 74 percent of political scientists were men. In international relations literature, women are systematically cited less than men.

The majority of foreign policy bloggers and vast majority of op-ed writers - with estimates ranging from 80 to 90 percent - are men. When lists of intellectuals are made, women tend to appear in a second-round, outrage-borne draft. Female intellectuals gain prominence through tales of their exclusion. They are known for being forgotten.

People talk about the glass ceiling, but it is really a glass box. Everyone can see you struggling to move. There is an echo in the glass box as your voice fails to carry. You want to talk about it, but that runs the risk of making all people hear.

more
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/03/us-foreign-policy-gender-gap-201431951640115291.html

[frazzled]

1. This is an odd article

I'm all for more participation by women, but "US foreign policy" is not defined by bloggers and op-ed writers, or even political scientists. Of course these people contribute ideas that may (or may not) affect government policy, but I've never heard anyone speak of US foreign policy and then go on to include bloggers and op ed writers and professors in it.

Let us note that with respect to US foreign policy, we have had three women Secretaries of State in recent years: Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton. Right now, the National Security advisor (Susan Rice) and US Ambassador to the UN (Samantha Power) are both women.