At the recent Barnes Buchanan conference during a networking reception, I was asked by a woman new to the security industry if I thought a women’s breakout event might be a good idea. She had seen similar initiatives in her previous industry and thought it would be a good addition to the conference. She was pleased to hear about some of the wider industry initiatives I informed her of, such as SIA’s Women in Security Forum (WISF) and Security LeadHER conferences, and we discussed some ideas to propose for the event for next year. Overall, it was a positive discussion about how the industry is moving forward.

However, my very next conversation with an industry veteran was less encouraging. She described a recent event (in 2023) she attended where a panel on “women in security” was made up of all men and moderated by someone asking the kinds of demeaning and diminishing questions that had many of the women in the room looking at one another and thinking, “seriously?”

When she was asked later why she didn’t call them on it then and there, this highly successful CEO of a security company said, “Because I couldn’t think of a business-appropriate way to respond.”

This happened to be related to women in security, but it could just as easily be minorities, LGBTQ, POC, or even young people feeling undervalued, misunderstood or stereotyped.

While these types of egregious incidents are thankfully less common than they were even a decade ago, they obviously are still occurring, which is a problem not just for the women and others experiencing it, but for the industry as a whole, as it continues to experience rampant challenges finding and keeping talent.

International Women’s Day is this month, March 8, 2024. But respecting and listening to women — and indeed all underrepresented identities in the security community — should be an everyday non-event.

Even more than that, it is just good business practice. As Senior Editor Rodney Bosch writes in this month’s cover story, Making the Business Case for Diversity Equity & Inclusion: “A lack of diversity and inclusion poses significant risks to a company’s long-term success, impacting its ability to innovate, attract top talent, maintain a positive reputation, and potentially miss out on valuable business opportunities and market segments. The same dangers can apply to entire industries that have historically lacked diversity and inclusion within its ranks. The security industry is no exception in this regard.”

Elaine Palome, director of human resources for the Americas at Axis Communications, explains further in the story: “Just from sheer logistics and numbers alone there are not enough people to fill the jobs that we have in the industry. Women in particular makeup 50 percent of the workforce, and if you’re not looking for ways to attract women, you’re leaving out 50 percent of the potential talent pool,” she says. “So from a very top level, simple perspective, it’s a numbers game.”

For a more personal perspective on this issue, also check out this month’s Integration Spotlight column, where several leading security industry women share their journeys and experiences over the years.

In an era where the term DEI has gotten a bit of a bad rap in some circles, these stories and the many examples in the cover story highlight the good that can come from intentional initiatives — whatever you call them — to get diverse backgrounds, ideas and experiences into your workforce and leadership.