The ASIS Foundation, in partnership with UK-based research firm, The Clarity Factory, reinforced its commitment to support global security managers with the launch of its first-ever Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) report, Empowering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Corporate Security 2022.
The report highlights DEI challenges within corporate security and suggestions for building a culture that respects and celebrates the diversity of its workforce; recruiting, developing, and retaining diverse talent necessary to address the challenges faced by the security profession.
The Clarity Factory used the following methodology in its research:
• An extensive literature review of the latest thinking and best practices on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
• Informal interviews, discussions with 32 professionals across the security industry, and participation in several informal industry networks on DEI.
• Structured interviews with 16 Chief Security Officers from multinational companies based in the UK, US, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. They were from the following sectors: banking and finance, extractive, energy, defence and aerospace, retail, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, technology, agriculture, and consultancy.
• Anonymous survey, which received 474 responses, which were concentrated in the US, the UK, Canada, and Europe. The results should be seen as illustrative and further work is needed to develop a statistical base for work on DEI in corporate security.
• The survey’s data on race and ethnicity has some limitations. The Clarity Factory opted to ask an open question about race and ethnicity, which made the data difficult to analyse, it should have asked “do you consider yourself to be a member of a racial or ethnic diversity within your current country of residence.” The company has separated the race and ethnicity data for North America (excluding Mexico), the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand and classified responses into Caucasian and non-Caucasian.
• Survey respondents were: 38 percent women, 11 percent LGBTQIA+, 6 percent had a physical disability and 11 percent were neurodiverse. 21 percent of respondents residing in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand were non-Caucasian.
• Throughout the report, The Clarity Factory uses the acronym LGBTQIA+: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual, asexual, and plus. The plus relates to individuals who do not classify as heterosexual or typical gender categories but do not identify with the other listed identity categories. The company recognise this is an area where we are all learning and we have attempted to be as inclusive as possible.
• The Clarity Factory also received data from SMR Group, a small, woman- and veteran-owned recruitment firm working across 75 countries, whose sole focus is security, risk, and resiliency. They analysed data from the last 5 years of job searches, which included over 5000 records, and provided the anonymised numbers to The Clarity Factory. They did not disclose any personally identifiable information about individuals.
According to Maria Teresa Septien, CPP, Chair, ASIS Foundation Board of Trustees, “Valuing and leveraging a diverse workforce, and developing and retaining talent with different life experiences, will undoubtedly bring better and more strategic solutions to the world of security.”
