As someone who has spent decades in the technology industry, I’ve seen the landscape transform dramatically. However, one issue remains persistent: the lack of gender and racial diversity in cybersecurity.
As part of our recent SASE Week, I had the opportunity to speak with Emily Heath, General Partner at CyberStarts, and Shamla Naidoo, Head of Cloud Strategy and Innovation here at Netskope, to discuss how we bring more women into cyber – and just as importantly how we ensure they thrive in their roles so we can retain their talents.
Perhaps inevitably, when advertising on social media that the session was upcoming I saw a number of comments from male industry participants questioning the need for any focus on diversity. Hopefully those men joined the session and now have a clearer understanding of the matter. If not, this summary post might help.
The Complexity of the Gender Gap
Recent figures show a concerning trend that the percentage of women in cybersecurity roles in the UK dropped by almost a quart