02.08.2024

Industry leader calls for joined-up approach to DE&I to promote women in security

More still needs to be done to promote security as an industry for women, and especially in senior management roles. While figures suggest that one in 10 security officers are female, John Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of Danhouse Security, says that this figure hasn’t meaningfully moved in the past six years.

And while there was a six per cent increase in the number of licensed female security officers between 2022 and 2023, very few are in executive positions, which means businesses are missing out in building high performing teams.

Fitzpatrick is calling for an industry-wide DE&I initiative that better recognises the need for a more diverse workplace: “Companies and industries with a more diverse workforce are proven to perform better than those that are less diverse,” he says, “which makes it an industry challenge, and not just an individual business challenge. The penalty for lagging on diversity is growing.

“Those organisations that employ women in security roles are benefiting from the intelligence, diversity of perspectives and capacity for innovation which comes from having gender-balanced and inclusive teams,” he continues. “Ten years ago, there were very few women in security, other than those providing front-of-house services. While times are changing, progress is woefully slow.”

According to the Security Industry Association, applications for licences from women have risen marginally from 9.2% in 2016 to 10.9% in 2024 and show that women still only account for a small proportion of the workforce.

“Having a demonstrable DE&I strategy enables organisations and industries like ours not only to attract the best people, but also retain the talent they have,” Fitzpatrick continues. “It makes the industry a more attractive place in which to work, as well as significantly increasing the talent pool for those looking to recruit. This in turn improves the overall quality of the security industry workforce.”

Fitzpatrick would also like the diversity conversation not only to focus on gender: “It needs to consider not only gender but also the ‘intersectionality’ of the workforce to represent age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation and working with a disability status,” he adds. “It’s certainly something that we are focusing on and benefiting from – but it is not something that can happen overnight.

“We need to build the trust of prospective applicants and we provide reassurance and evidence that a diverse workforce is welcomed and listened to.”

Fitzpatrick believes that the security industry bodies should be taking the lead, and learn from other sectors such as aerospace: “We can play our part,” he says, “but we need an industry-wide campaign, supported by research and insight, to demonstrate the true value that diverse and inclusive employees and leaders can bring.”

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