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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
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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
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