Hardship Posts

One of the main ways in which the overall experience of men and women in the Mexican Foreign Service is different is their likelihood of ever being assigned to a hardship post. According to the internal rules of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a hardship post is designed as such when it features at least one of the following criteria:

• Existence of armed conflict.
• Extreme lack of sanitary conditions.
• A rule of extreme intolerance or explicit discrimination.

When putting together the list of hardship posts, the Ministry's Human Resources Committee takes into account information provided by the Embassies around the world, the United Nations, and other international financial organizations.

Jose Arturo Trejo, Mexico's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a hardship post.

One important feature of these posts is that officers who have been assigned to them are awarded an extra point in their promotion exam total score. This benefit exists because hardship posts pose unique challenges to diplomats and their families, who must have excellent adaptive skills in order to adjust to extreme conditions. Promotions are often decided by tenths or even hundredths of a point, so this additional boost can be critical. 

According to the data, women are much less likely to be assigned to hardship posts in the Mexican Foreign Service. Out of all the officers that have ever been assigned to a hardship post, 82% are male. Some women report difficulties being assigned to hardship posts even when requesting to be posted there. 

Dealing with this issue is tricky, especially because some posts are specifically more challenging for women, or because there is an institutional culture that seems to suggest sometimes that women FSOs should be protected or shielded from certain work conditions. In any case, the Ministry could benefit from developing gender-sensitive guidelines to the assignment of hardship posts, taking into account women's input in the process.