Intelligent CISO Issue 14 | Page 43

E R T N P X E INIO OP multi-billions of pounds, the industry is crying out for more skills in this complex field. As professionals in the industry, we need to work together to encourage cybersecurity as a possible career choice for all of the population, not just the part with a male gender identity. When I think about inequality, I contemplate questions such as why there are so few women in the cybersecurity industry, why are women paid less than men, or why are there more women in low-skilled jobs? The answer is that there is prejudice in this world. This prejudice has created www.intelligentciso.com | Issue 14 an inaccurate belief that your expressed gender should dictate your career choices and future. In an industry with a disproportionately high male representation, I can see its shadow on so many organisations – and the sadly inaccurate assumption that having a woman or a person from an ethnic minority solves an organisation’s diversity issue. A person’s ethnicity, sexuality, gender, gender identity or background should never be more important than their skills or experience. Each individual is unique and has competencies – and weaknesses – which should be valued and managed. With organisations now forced to publicly display the disparity between male and female salaries – and with a move to do the same for different ethnic backgrounds – we will continue to see companies’ diversity problems becoming embarrassingly visible. It is time for organisations to truly embrace the diversity debate to help bridge the cybersecurity skills gap. The first step in fixing a problem is recognising that it exists; and the second is being determined to correct it. u 43