A challenged world is an alert world.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge

“Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”

Although early data from the UN is showing many female professionals now working from home, state that domestic chores are falling on them at increasingly higher rates than their male partners - this year’s IWD theme looks to celebrate the efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This blog will focus on the significance of female leadership, allyship and mentorship; Acknowledge the challenges many women face, both pre and during COVID and most importantly recognise the female leaders and inspiring role models who are forging ahead within tech and cyber security. 

To quote the brilliant Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” 

It stuns me this needs to be written in 2021, but the fact remains an extremely small percentage of women are in leadership roles. The Australian federal government has just 32% women. And the private sector doesn’t fair better.

Women are underrepresented in key decision-making roles across almost all industries in the Australian workforce. WGEA 2019-20 data shows that while women make up half of the private sector workforce (50.5%), women make up only:

• 32.5% of key management positions
• 28.1% of directors
• 18.3% of CEOs
• 14.6% of board chairs

Despite the above there is some good news within specific industries, such as cyber security. Where there has been an increase in overall females - from about 10% to now an estimated 20%. 

So, what can we do? Well, quite frankly…there is tonnes we can all do, but

#ChooseToChallenge is a great start.

As an individual, one of the first steps is to recognise and challenge bias. Unconscious bias is rife, so it is imperative as individuals – colleagues, friends, partners, family, we speak up and #choosetochallenge the status quo. This can be hard both personally and professionally given there is often resistance to change and/or a reluctance to acknowledge any issue at all.

As a recruiter within this sector, I’ve seen how unconscious bias can seep into the hiring process. Besides straight up gender bias, and increasingly ageism, my experience is the first line of company screening is paramount. Yet this is where we see the most negative results due to (un)conscious bias – often disguised as “gut feel” or the expectation of an unrealistic career history.

The reality is if you get to a senior role, having never stayed at one place for just a short time (including short moves internally) or having a career break, you are the exception – not the rule.  We need to bring back the human element into the hiring process and realise everyone has a history. Research shows we like to hire people like ourselves so it is understandable how unconscious bias happens – but now is the time to #choosetochallenge. We need to stop penalising, more often than not women, for taking a different path or requiring flexibility that as the person hiring, you might not value.

The good news is that help is readily available, if you embrace the change. The Business Council of Australia, McKinsey & Company and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency teamed to do a study and have made it simple! They created a 10 – step recipe for getting more women into leadership.

The steps are:

1. Build a strong case for change
2. Role-model a commitment to diversity, including with business partners
3. Redesign roles and work to enable flexible work and normalise uptake across levels and genders
4. Actively sponsor rising women
5. Set a clear diversity aspiration, backed up by accountability
6. Support talent through life transitions
7. Ensure the infrastructure is in place to support a more inclusive and flexible workplace
8. Challenge traditional views of merit in recruitment and evaluation
9. Invest in frontline leader capabilities to drive cultural change
10. Develop rising women and ensure experience in key roles

True equality will see a rise in women across all spaces, not just continue with women in the all too often female ghettos of HR or Marketing. Plus, this equality must include all leadership levels.

Having a mentor at any time of life is an asset beyond measure. Be it at school or work, developing a relationship where you have a confidant, someone who you trust and can turn to, to discuss issues that matter can be instrumental. The knowledge and expertise can add valuable insight to your decision making.

A recent article put out by CompTIA discusses the importance of allyship. Having someone in your corner and who can champion for you behind the scenes is critical. In larger organisations my observation is it can make all the difference making it to a leadership position. The level of visibility you get within an organisation can be significantly advanced with an ally.

In tech and cyber security in Australia, it is good to see a rise in females in leadership. Yet, we still have a long road ahead to equality. You only have to do a quick LinkedIn search to see females holding the top job are few and far between. 

But exceptional female leaders exist. Michelle Price, CEO Aust Cyber; Lynwen Connick, Global CISO ANZ; Shweta Pandey, Partner Deloitte Digital; Catherine Buhler, CISO Energy Australia; and Audrey Hanson, CISO Bluescope; to name a few. Seeing these women at the top provides valuable role models for those entering the tech and cyber security industries in Australia. And with many female leaders joining mentor programs through AWSN and FiTT, I’m hopeful that this upwards trend of women in security is here to stay.

The Decipher Bureau is proud to host the Sydney launch of the Techgirls Comp on 11 March. This program is run by the Tech Girls Movement Foundation, and headed up by another inspiring and superhero leader in tech, Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen - OAM; Founder and CEO. 

TGMF has now had over 10,000 girls go through the program, and has created thousands of mentoring opportunities for females at any stage of their career in STEM (both in tech or non tech roles). It is impossible not to be filled with hope for the future when witness to what these young girls create and accomplish.

If you would like any further information re mentoring with TGMF, please reach out to me directly.

“A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. So let's all #ChooseToChallenge.”

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