Cyber Women Ireland launch Diver{Se}curity Report

To follow on from the previous article detailing the inaugural Diver{Se}curity Report from Cyber Women Ireland (which can be viewed here). CWI has released the report with the findings and subsequent recommendations.

As a tech company, we are aware of the importance of diversity within the tech and cybersecurity sector. So, it was a no-brainer to keep up to date on the outcome and findings of such a report.

This report explores the following;

—  The attracting, hiring and retaining of talent in the security industry in Ireland.

—  The diversity and inclusion efforts of organizations

—  The progress in relation to supporting working families.

—  The effects of burnout within the industry

—  The implications of company representation in relation to panels, webinars, and boards.

I found the report to be quite an interesting and thought-provoking read. I particularly enjoyed the interactive elements throughout. These elements can be seen in the graphs provided. It was refreshing to see a unique take on such a document, it’s not just your average report.

Interesting highlights from the Cyber Women Ireland report:

As gender imbalance within the tech and cybersecurity sector is an area of interest and one that we are constantly looking to assist in, I found it very insightful to read the Cyber Women Ireland report. They investigated how to close the gender gap by enhancing work quality and pay standards.

This report contains valuable insights into pay gaps within the industry such as:

—  Participants education – vs – Participants salaries

—  NIST NICE area – vs – Gender

Personally, I found this to be one of the most interesting sections of the report as it provided some food for thought regarding the gender pay gaps which affect so many within the tech and cybersecurity industries.

When asked about DIE&B (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity & Belonging) 73% of participants claimed that their company participated in DIE&B with 76% outlining that they have policies in place to ensure an inclusive workplace.

Interestingly, it felt that some employees did not want to portray their company in a negative light. In contrast to the previous point, when they zoned in on neurodiversity, where they found that 53% had no training in this area with only 5% of respondents outlining that they were educated on neurodiversity within the workplace. This made me wonder, how much DIE&B is actually included in the workplace?

When confronted with the topic of working families, 56% of participants had said that there was support in place, with 75% gaining from paid paternity and maternity leave, which is great to see.

What’s even more head-turning, when respondents were asked when they are on maternity or paternity, leave do their organisation offer “keep in touch programmes” (which help employees to stay connected within the organisation, i.e. buddy programmes) 53% of people did not know if a programme like this existed and 35% said their company did not offer such a programme. Similarly, this provokes me to question the amount of support available in the workplace.

Taking all of this into consideration the Diver{Se}curity Report provides detailed recommendations on how to combat the discrepancies in which I have concluded as well as many more. I would recommend anyone interested in diversity within a workplace, not only the cyber industry to take some time to investigate this project further.

By Pia Stavrianos. Pia is a business marketing student with an interest in all things creative such as writing and graphic design. She has found a new interest in sustainability and artificial intelligence while working with the Irish Tech News team.