Diversity and inclusion questionnaire opened to security industry

There’s a lack of existing data that identifies the diversity figures for the security sector as a whole, which makes it difficult to pinpoint those areas for improvement and, what’s more, hinders any efforts to track changes in the workforce over time.

The questionnaire will help to benchmark diversity figures for the security sector, providing quantitative data as well as offering participants the opportunity to anonymously share their experiences and put forward their thoughts if they should wish to do so.

This data will be used to inform future initiatives orchestrated by The Security Institute and its members to improve industry practices and, ultimately, build a stronger and more inclusive workforce. Going forward, the questionnaire’s results will also help in evaluating the impact of these future initiatives and also assist in tracking the sector’s inclusivity over time.

To provide a full picture of inclusivity in the sector, the questionnaire addresses a wide variety of demographic categories including – but not limited to – age, educational background, gender and both visible and non-visible disabilities.

Key responsibility

Speaking about the importance of the questionnaire, The Security Institute’s ISSIG co-chairs Anna-Liisa Tampuu ASyI and Lisa Reilly ASyI said: “As a sector, it’s our responsibility to ensure that the workforce of security professionals reflects the people whom we serve to protect. A diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds will mean that, as a sector, we are best prepared to tackle the threats of both today and tomorrow. This is why, through its Inclusive Security Special Interest Group, The Security Institute is working so hard to make the sector inclusive for all.”

Tampuu and Reilly concluded: “This sector-wide survey will help us to benchmark diversity figures for our sector as a whole, in turn informing and underpinning the projects that we focus on in the coming years.”

*To complete the questionnaire access this link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/security-sector-inclusion-questionnaire

**Submissions are requested on or before the closing date of Monday 13 September

***The results of the questionnaire will be shared at The Security Institute’s 2021 Annual Conference which takes place on Thursday 28 October Register for that event by visiting the website at https://security-institute.org/conference/

****Participation in the questionnaire is voluntary. In accordance with General Data Protection Regulation requirements, all responses will be stored anonymously with no personally identifiable information