Most of us don’t want to be left out of work, especially if we’re looking to innovate, collaborate and make a meaningful impact in our role. Making connections with colleagues, ensuring you’re invited to key meetings, and meeting face-to-face with key company leaders are all essential to learning and growing in an organization. But systemic exclusion is a troubling reality for many in the cybersecurity industry.
Olivia Rose, IANS Research Faculty Member and CISO/Founder of Rose CISO Group, is a 17-year CISO and industry veteran. She has experienced exclusionary practices based on her gender throughout her career.
“I think the interference is rooted in making assumptions about women,” Rose says. “When I got married years ago and was working as a cybersecurity consultant, a leader told my manager to lighten my workload for a few months since I would definitely be planning my own wedding. I wasn’t invited to happy hours and trips corporate because I have kids and who would watch them? Whether intentional or not, making assumptions about women and the various roles we play puts us in a box where it’s just another obstacle we have to overcome to be viewed equally.”
According to Women in CyberSecurity’s (WiCyS) women are five times more likely to report exclusion from direct managers and colleagues”Benchmark the state of inclusion in the 2023 Cyber Security Report.” But exclusion is not limited to gender alone. Individuals with disabilities and intersectional identities experience levels of workplace exclusion comparable to, or even greater than, gender-related exclusion, underscoring the combined impact of multiple different identity traits .
Microaggressions are subtle
It’s not just about being left out of the room. Being the victim of disrespectful behavior, sexually inappropriate advances, and lack of appreciation for skills and experience can also make it difficult to advance in the workplace. These types of microaggressions are difficult to define, Rose says.
“I personally don’t think research can help much when it comes to understanding microaggressions and how they are the silent killer of women’s careers,” she says. “I speak from experience when I say that these microaggressions are so minor and menial that women cannot go to human resources to report them.”
Rose recalls a business leader who, at one point in her career, regularly attempted to undermine her in meetings by abruptly blowing air out of her nostrils every time she spoke.
“By itself, this means nothing,” Rose says. “[But] add that to the multiple instances where I’ve seen this individual try to leave me out of the picture, sending emails “forgetting” to copy me, and not providing requested information to my team, and the puzzle starts to come together. But how do you even begin to explain this to your manager or HR?”
Rose advises the managers he works with to take what employees say seriously and to note every reported instance of discrimination and exclusion to form a bigger picture of a pattern of problematic behavior.
Pressure in the room where it occurs
Umaimah Khan, founder and CEO of identity security firm Opal Security, says cybersecurity is more asymmetric than other tech sectors, largely due to the emphasis on product development processes and sales-oriented culture , which often targets executives. This high-risk, high-pressure environment amplifies bias and is resistant to change, says Khan, whose background is in academia and research labs before founding Opal.
Women are also under pressure to be both business savvy and technically proficient in their roles, and assertiveness can be misinterpreted as aggression. This dichotomy can dissuade many from entering or staying in the cybersecurity field, Khan says, noting that they’re “unwilling to put up with the pain and frustration and having to be second-guessed.”
For his part, Khan is committed to building a diverse team at Opal. But even in the best of circumstances, he believes resilience is an essential attribute for women to thrive. Women often need to prove themselves repeatedly and have to develop a thick skin, he says.
“I think it’s true that you have to be twice as good,” Khan adds. “I found myself in my early days having to prove myself in those rooms. You get this feeling [you] they have to be right 100% of the time.”
Steps to change and improve inclusion
Exclusion is closely intertwined with career issues, such as inadequate pay and being passed over for promotions. To combat these issues you need to communicate clearly with both colleagues and management, says Larci Robertson, senior sales engineer at Obsidian Security. Document your results and have metrics to demonstrate success, she suggests.
“Talk about pay with your colleagues,” Robertson says. “Have a clear path to promotions and raises for members of management. Expectations and a clearly communicated path will take care of the question, ‘Why wasn’t I promoted over someone else?’”
Finally, find an internal mentor who can help guide you down the right path and get the kudos you deserve.
“It’s very difficult to learn and grow without a supporter,” Robertson says.