I’ve had a few conversations now with people saying, “I don’t get gender issues” or “there isn’t anything wrong?” It got me thinking about what the core problems are & why some don’t see it as a problem. (1)

There is not enough data on female retention in the career pipeline, and experiences of Next Gen individuals. It is widely anecdotally agreed gender treatment is mixed in security, but it is difficult to reflectively quantify. (2)

Systems were designed by one group for one group, so articulating the system is the problem and not necessarily the women trying to adapt to it, is challenging. The “well it’s always worked” argument. (3)

Our Board Advisor, Gina Bennett, says “equality doesn’t equal equity” - if systems favour one group over another, can equality be achieved? (4)

There has been great progress made on gender balance, but there is still much work to be done. Complacency with progress tends to lead to backsliding. Spotting unintended consequences of policies is central to defence planning. Having diverse people in the room is key (7)

If you benefit from that system, great. When you don’t, not so great! But if this means defence is losing talent because “equality” is often little more than a buzz word (not always), our national security suffers (5)

Treatment of women in security is infinitely better than it was last century. As a new starter in this field, I feel lucky to have had the path I have had so far. But I shouldn’t be thinking it is ‘luck’ (6)