Will there ever be equality within the security industry?
Whilst many people are pushing for diversity and inclusion to be reflected across all sectors of work, there are industries which are still very much male-dominated, security we can safely say being a strong asset to this societal stereotype.
And the real question is – why and how can this change?
From the most recent report, women now represent 24 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. This is a major increase compared to previous years. Alongside this, women bring a higher level of education to the industry with 52 percent in the survey holding a postgraduate degree in comparison to the 44 percent of the male counterparts.
This is most definitely more encouraging for women but issues such as wage inequality still remain. Only 15 percent of women globally reported their annual salaries ranging between $100,000 – $500,000 while 20 percent of men earn at least that much if not more.
As we know, particular areas of the security industry are very much focused on the manual installation with the technical side of things. Just to name a few examples : CCTV installation, implementing fire alarm systems, access control and much more. Naturally, when we think of a technical role within an industry, we can assume that men will be dominating this element of the job. So when potential customers approach a security company, they naturally associate to male and approach the conversation with whoever they are speaking to with mannerisms online such as “Dear Sir”. Without realizing it, this causes a lack of appreciation for females striving to achieve great success within this industry. Almost this idea of undermining women within this whole sector.
However what people do seem to forget is that there is much more to security than the actual manual inputting skills that are required.
Desirable Qualities
A Strong Customer-Employee Relationship
A really important element when working in this kind of industry is the relationship between customer and employee. Communication skills will be key to initiate a good working ground for the customer to feel safe and be able to put their trust into that employer. Not only this, but an advantage of having a good level of social interaction with the customer will increase the likelihood of that same customer returning to your company again, bringing in this element of loyalty and commitment.
Women are known to handle situations in a much more calm and composed manner so when issues do arise – which inevitably they do when it comes to technology – the emotional understanding and level-headed nature of women means that problems would be approached in a much more efficient way.
Understanding the Customer
As well as this, empathising with customers is a really important factor to sustain a strong relationship with them and build up trust between both parties. A lot of women can approach situations in an empathetic way which allows for limited disputes or tension. Therefore women working within the security industry are creating long-term success for the company that they work for.
Finding the Balance
Typically women tend to prefer discussing their problems or dilemma with another woman due to there being a less intimidating nature, especially with someone in a uniform who reflects a level of authority. Therefore, she will feel safer which is what this industry is all about. Naturally, women are not recognized as equal in the security industry and that is hugely down to size and shape. Although the safety of men in the security industry is deemed to make you feel more protected, this is not necessarily the case for everyone and in fact a woman with the same training and expertise can actually be more beneficial and appropriate for female customers.
IT Skills
Most fire and security systems are now becoming digital. Therefore, installing and configuring a fire and security system necessitates additional IT skills. Since women are commonly known to pay more attention to detail, they may perform as well as, if not better than, a male engineer.
The Change In Female Diversity and Inclusion
Forums
Now more than ever, it has been made apparent that something must change about the male-dominated industries and slowly we are beginning to see an integrating shift into being more equal. This is clearly highlighted in the fact that many forums have arisen, encouraging the diversity and inclusion of women within the security industry. A notable forum run by the SIA (Security Industry Association) known as the Women in Security Forum is “a group for both women and men that offers programs, professional development opportunities and networking events with the goal of supporting the involvement of women in the security industry.” Not only does this promote inclusion of women but it also helps engage women to not feel undervalued and in fact will give them more incentive to join this growing and high-demand industry with the help of recruitment.
Social Media
Due to the increased accessibility to social platforms where anyone can reach out to each other, it has been a lot easier for people to establish a comfortable position online in which they can talk about and discuss important topics such as equality within the working industry. This has clearly shown to have had a positive impact on allowing young women to feel more validated and accepted in society when considering taking a career path in the security industry. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and FaceBook encourage group discussions on different experiences that women have gone through working within this kind of environment and how much more it should be appreciated. The lack of representation is now slowly deteriorating and being made more apparent on digital platforms globally.
Encouragement Of Women Is Vital
One thing that we can take away from this is that women are a strong asset to each and every industry but also more importantly the security industry. I strongly feel that in order for this initiation to stay ongoing with the inclusion of a female-equal community, social media platforms and the encouragement from female industry professionals will take leading women into this industry to an even stronger level .