"I was offered an opportunity by my U.S. firm to assist with financial operations in our European offices. I had a choice of either locating to Paris or to Brussels, so I went to Europe to see where I wanted to stay. I initially thought that I would want to stay in Paris. I had hopes of learning the language, seeing the museums, and absorbing the culture. Paris was more enticing than Brussels. When I attended a business meeting in Paris, however, I felt very uncomfortable for the most part because I did not speak French. Now this was a recent offer, and I was certainly planning to take language classes as soon as I was settled on where I was going. However, despite the fact that this was a subsidiary of a U.S. firm, all the meetings and hallway dialogue was in French. That was fine, except that I was supposed to be an active part of the meeting. From time to time, someone would notice me sitting there with a blank look on my face, and then they would summarize what was being said in English for me. It was obvious that they were not very happy about it. Later that week I went on to Brussels. The overall reception was much warmer, and people always spoke English on my behalf. They included me in all discussions. So in the end I decided to live in Brussels and to visit Paris on weekends." (Expatriate living in Brussels)

Women in Management

In 1991, the proportion of women in the work force was 43%, with 72% percent of these women between the ages 25Ð49. In 1988, 52% of working women were employed in services, 35% in agriculture and 24% in industry. The unemployment rate in March, 1992 was 8% for men, 13% for all women, and 26% for women between the ages of 15Ð24. The pivotal point of change for working women in France was in 1968, following the cultural revolution. Young women began to assert that they wanted careers like men. The majority of French women have full-time jobs. At 24%, France has the lowest rate of part-time workers in Western Europe. (1) French women state that they have come a long way in being treated equally in business, but they are not as far along as women in the U.S. French men say American women are hypersensitive about gender and sexual harassment and wonder what all the fuss is about.