Cybersecurity is a mission, not a job. Today’s guest has 20+ years of experience to prove that. As part of our National Cybersecurity Awareness Month miniseries, we talk to Laura Whitt-Winyard, CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, a Fellow at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology and International Advisory Board Member at HMG Strategy. Laura got herself to cybersecurity through a slightly unconventional route. Now, she is one of the industry’s respected thought leaders and a role model for women in the space. Tune in as she joins Sherry Bevan to talk about her typical day as a CSO, the challenges she had to go through in her career, what she enjoys about her work, and the wisdom she can impart to women working in the sector.

Joining us for another episode of our special National Cybersecurity Awareness Month series is Ashley Baich. Ashley is the Readiness and Crisis Management Security Consultant at Accenture in their Cyber Investigation, Forensics, and Response (CIFR) practice, responsible for helping organizations flex their crisis response capabilities. She chats with host Sherry Bevan about her journey into cybersecurity and why she had her sights set on the field before even graduating. Ashley also speaks on the challenges and possible turnoffs going into such a male-dominated industry, the strides being made to close the gaps, and the opportunities for more women entering the field. Tune into this episode to learn more. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

There’s always something to learn. You don’t have to know everything, but you should look for innovative ways to acquire new knowledge every day to achieve the success you are meant to have. This interview is one of a series of interviews with women in cybersecurity. The series is published in October 2022 to celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Our guest, Dora Ross, shares her knowledge of the barriers and challenges of cybersecurity. Dora is a security culture transformation specialist. She works with organizations to define and implement risk-based, human-centered security culture and training strategies enabling positive behavioral change. In this episode, she emphasizes that there are so many different areas in Security, and the landscape is constantly changing. Tune in to learn more about what people do daily in cybersecurity, the importance of communication skills, and shaping cultural change. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

This episode offers you the senior consultant of Crowdstrike, Emma Jones, to celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Emma shares the unintentional move of her career in cybersecurity. Given that she has no background in the role, the transferable core skills she possessed allowed her to fare pretty well in the space. She enjoyed each moment of her journey and never looked back on her previous career. Like everyone else, Emma faced some challenges along the way in her career, but how did she deal with them? What insights could she offer to anyone thinking of taking the cybersecurity route? Tune in to this episode and learn more.

Trusted information is crucial in an industry where one wrong move stands between being protected and attacked. This is the heart of Rebecca Taylor’s position as the Threat Intelligence Knowledge Manager at Secureworks. In this episode, she sits down with Sherry Bevan to tell us more about her role, along with the interesting career journey that took her from studying English and Creative Writing to the cybersecurity space. Rebecca talks about the importance of having trusted and clean knowledge accessible to the right teams. What is more, she also shares some of the challenges she faced as a woman in the industry, offering advice for others as they step into their career in a male-dominated space. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Going to the next level in your career means having to take on more complex projects. And our guest in this episode has done that while coaching and mentoring women in technology. Sherry Bevan interviews Chloe Acebes, the Director of Software Engineering at Sophos. In this conversation, Chloe shares her career in cybersecurity, taking us along to both the challenging and proudest moments in her career thus far. She also talks about coping with the pandemic, the barriers for women working in the sector, and the future of her career balancing politics and technology. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

The cybersecurity career path appeals to women because it is purpose-driven. But most of technological innovation is driven by profit. Dr. Jacqui Taylor believes that the best of both worlds can be combined in what she calls a profit-for purpose model. As the co-founder and CEO of Flying Binary, Jacqui is on a mission to create an inclusive technological future for everyone, and she believes the profit-for-purpose is the way to do it. In this conversation with Sherry, she explains how she made her way to a cybersecurity career and the massive role she’s now playing in detecting and fighting bad actors, including in what’s widely-considered to be the world’s first cyber-warfare history, which is currently underway in Ukraine. She also explains why the cybersecurity space is especially conducive to inclusion initiatives and how women and other underrepresented sectors can start their career path in the industry.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Too often, we question the impact a leadership coach can make. Is it practical, when do you need one, and will it be worth the investment? In this episode, host Sherry Bevan shares tips and important points to consider when selecting a leadership coach. Choosing the right coach can contribute to achieving your goal as a company, team, or individual. Tune in and discover how leadership coaching can work for you. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

In the spring of 2022, Sherry Bevan hosted a round table where she invited several cybersecurity companies to talk about attracting and retaining more female talent into cybersecurity. Representatives from Blackberry, ISTARI, Beyond Trust, Redscan, and Adarma Security came along and participated in a fruitful discussion. The looked into attracting more women into cybersecurity, tackling unconscious biases in hiring, retaining female technical talent, internal role modeling, and closing the gender pay gap in the industry. In this episode, Sherry shares her reflections about the round table. Listen in as she breaks down the discussion’s salient points that reveal deep insights into the state of female talent in one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Statistically, three in five women say that their caring role has blocked their career progress. For men, one in five say caring had stopped them from applying for promotion or a new job. As we can see, the act of balancing work and caring responsibilities is a challenge that poses a risk to the growth of both employees and the business. This June, we will celebrate National Carers Week. It brings a good opportunity for you to show support for your working carers. Join Sherry Bevan in this episode as she highlights the difficulties working carers face, what it says about being a woman, how it affects the gender pay gap, and what this celebration can do to your people. It is time to take better care of our working carers. Let them know you value them.  Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Diversity in the workforce is an issue that many industries are striving to improve. But what about cybersecurity? Jess Figueras sheds light on the matter with host Sherry Bevan. Jess is an independent tech industry strategy adviser and the Vice-Chair of the UK Cyber Security Council. She has experienced first-hand the lack of and the need for more women in the profession. In this episode, Jess discusses the cyber skills shortage and factors that contribute to a skewed diversity in the field. Technology is producing information faster than the professionals going in. So, what is putting people off from cybersecurity? And, is this a chance for more women to get into cybersecurity? Get the answer by tuning in. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

2021 was a very challenging year for most of us for various reasons. We all experienced a decline in productivity and anxiety brought by the pandemic. Then, just when we thought it was all over, another surge began. And women at work are going through even more burnouts, stress, and confusion. What will the next year await? In this episode, Sherry Bevan explores the five key trends and insights that will impact the gender pay gap in 2022. This way, we could have a clear view of what we could expect this year and decide on the actionable steps we could take.  Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

As a woman, you should know your worth. Join Sherry Bevan in this episode as she discusses how women can protect their careers in this complicated world. Closing the gender pay gap requires a two-pronged approach. At the organizational level, we can implement initiatives to tackle female talent development and retention. At the individual level, there are actions that individual women can take to protect their careers from the gender pay gap. But, of course, all of these will still depend on the person's willingness and courage to show their value. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Aside from the still unaddressed gender pay gap, women face yet another employment issue: motherhood penalty. Numerous studies show that women's earnings and career are negatively impacted after giving birth to their first child. Moms also earn far less than those who don't have any kids. Sherry Bevan presents the worrying statistics of women not getting the salary they are due just because they are mothers. She also provides several possible solutions to end this motherhood penalty, giving women the earnings they truly deserve. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

People who have a career in technology are only composed of 19% women. With this industry dominated by men, what can be done for women to get into this thriving community? Sherry Bevan explores this subject further with Joysy John, CEO of 01 Founders, and Hana Abdi, Tech Leader at 01 Founders and the Founder of Bridge The Gap In Tech. Together, they talk about the strongest motivating factors that push women towards a career in technology, ultimately finding their purpose and building a better world. They also talk about the most daunting barriers that limit women from becoming successful in this industry, from the lack of better opportunities to the stereotyping that these jobs are only for (bearded) men.   Free-to-access London coding school: https://www.01founders.co/ Bridge The Gap In Tech: https://www.bridgethegapintech.com/ Joysy John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/joysyj/ Hana Abdi on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanaabdi/   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

There’s a lot of talk on how to close the gender pay gap but what are companies actually doing to make it happen? In this episode, Head of People & Culture, Rachel Marsh, shares what Fujitsu has been doing to stay ahead in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She chats with Sherry Bevan on what’s worked and what hasn’t on their end. Rachel also shares how they keep track of their progress and what other companies can do to continually empower and promote the closing of the gender pay gap. They also touch on flexible working, and their research on the ethnicity pay gap. Stay tuned and get value from this insightful discussion on how to become a more proactive and progressive organization for your employees.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

There has been a shift in organizations where the value of diversity in the workforce is now recognized. But how do we also shift our recruitment strategies to attract more women to apply for job vacancies, especially in presumably male-dominated industries? In this episode, Sherry Bevan sits down with Nicola Spooner of Nicola Spooner Consulting to give recruiters tips on how to achieve just that. An expert in project management recruitment, Nicola has valuable insights on mitigating gender inequalities through your recruitment processes. Tune in and learn how these can help you drive your business forward!   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Imposter Syndrome is already an issue for leaders, but the stigma imposed by gender only amplifies it. This can manifest itself in your organization in many ways, one of which is through the gender pay gap. Today, joining your host Sherry Bevan is the leading authority on Imposter Syndrome in the UK, Clare Josa. She speaks on her landmark research study about Imposter Syndrome to clearly define the phenomena and its impacts on the gender pay gap. She also discusses concrete examples of how it affects employees and leaders in the workplace. Plus, Clare shares tips for companies on how to be more proactive in dealing with Imposter Syndrome to promote an equitable workplace and empower its workforce. Tune in to this insightful discussion to learn more!   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Some women still get paid less than men for the same work in a company. That’s the hard truth that’s still happening nowadays. In this episode, Sherry Bevan gives a broad overview of all the different approaches used by organizations that want to strengthen their female talent pipeline to close the gender pay gap. She dives deep into various initiatives and actions that you can take in your organization, based on whether the evidence tells us it works or not.   Also in this episode: Your last chance to book a place on the Executive Round Table on Tuesday, 5 October! A brief summary of the four main causes A tour of the initiatives to close the gender pay gap based on the paper published by the Government Equalities Office   Key resources mentioned in this episode: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/close-gender-pay-gap https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/about-maternity-discrimination/ https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/three-four-working-mothers-say-they%E2%80%99ve-experienced-pregnancy-and-maternity Episode 4 of Closing The Gender Pay Gap: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/breaking-the-tech-industry-hierarchy-to-close-the-gender-pay-gap-with-jo-stansfield/ https://www.businessleader.co.uk/discover-the-female-ftse-100-ceos-of-2020/81145/ Evidenced-Based Gender Pay Gap Actions for Employers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/731288/Gender-Pay-Gap-actions_.pdf Episode 5 of Closing The Gender Pay Gap: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/how-performance-feedback-at-work-influences-your-gender-pay-gap-with-shirin-nikaein/ Episode 6 of Closing The Gender Pay Gap: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/the-gender-gap-in-self-promotion-how-to-encourage-more-women-to-put-themselves-forward/   Book an exploratory chat: I’m offering exploratory calls with me so that you can ask any questions you have about the work I do with technology companies on attracting, developing, and retaining your female talent so you can close the gender pay gap. If you’d like a totally transparent conversation about how working with me could support your organization’s talent goals, email me to book a call now: [email protected].   Sign up to newsletter: If you’re looking to stay in touch with the latest industry trends, research, and best practice to develop and retain your female talent so that you close the gender pay gap and bring major benefits to your organization in 2021 and beyond, sign up to my monthly newsletter here: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/newsletter-signup/.   Connect with Sherry: Email me: [email protected] Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherryRB Connect with me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrybevan/   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

We often hear that women have higher emotional intelligence. How does this affect their ability to take on leadership roles? Sherry Bevan delves into five elements that make up emotional intelligence and the various studies of how men and women score in this area. She explains how this affects women's professional advantage and expertise, their effort to climb the career ladder, and their levels of success in their chosen fields.     Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/  

Certain companies have half their workforce female, but there are very few women in leadership positions. Why does this keep happening, even today? Sherry Bevan explores the gender gap in self-promotion. A self-promotion is an essential tool for career advancement. Women have to realize that they are valuable and worth it. In this episode, Sherry explains why women don't put themselves forward for promotion and shares ideas and how you can address this issue in your organization. It's not just about fixing women; it's also about changing the system and the landscape. How do you do that? If you want to learn what you can do to encourage women to self-promote, then this episode is for you.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Performance feedback is often used as a tool to measure competency and is, therefore, a gauge for employee success, with good feedback often rewarded with better pay or promotions. Yet, in the case of women in the workplace, it can also be the cause of a gender pay gap.   Join Sherry Bevan as she explores this issue with the CEO and Co-founder of Upful.ai, Shirin Nikaein. Shirin and Sherry discuss performance feedback and how it can negatively impact the gender pay gap. They also talk about ways to resolve this issue. A thought-provoking discussion that leaders need to tune in to.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

There is an assumption that women can only do certain things and that they aren't qualified for more technical roles in the tech industry. Now is the time to break that hierarchy and give everyone equal opportunity. Joining this episode is the founder and director of Inclusioneering, Jo Stansfield, to talk about how the hierarchy affects the gender pay gap. Learn how to break the perceived status of women and how they can learn different skill sets. Learn how to be flexible so that you can move up the ranks and break the pay gap.   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

The demands of full-time work and balancing that with caring responsibilities can be extremely difficult. In this episode, we explore: ·        The scale and impact of caring for elderly relatives on top of a full-time job ·        The working definition of a working carer ·        The challenges that working carers face ·        How this will be affecting your gender pay gap ·        What you can do to become a carer-friendly employer so that this doesn’t have a negative impact on your gender pay gap.   Key resources mentioned in this episode: Employers for Carers: www.employersforcarers.org Carers UK: https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/get-resources/our-factsheets CIPD – Supporting working carers: https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/supporting-working-carers-1_tcm18-80339.pdf CIPD - Becoming a carer-friendly workplace: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/carer-friendly-workplace   Book an exploratory chat: Book an exploratory chat with me! I’m offering exploratory calls with me so that you can ask any questions you have about the work I do with technology companies on attracting, developing, and retaining your female talent so you can close the gender pay gap. If you’d like a totally transparent conversation about how working with me could support your organization’s talent goals, email me to book a call now: [email protected]   Sign up to newsletter: If you’re looking to stay in touch with the latest industry trends, research, and best practice to develop and retain your female talent so that you close the gender pay gap in technology and bring major benefits to your organization in 2021 and beyond, sign up to my monthly newsletter here: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/newsletter-signup/   Connect with Sherry: Email me: [email protected] Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherryRB Connect with me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrybevan/   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

40% of employers expect more than half of their workforce to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, and many of these are women. The danger in that is women will become less active in the workplace. With less visibility comes lesser chances of promotion.   In this episode, we explore: why Covid-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have a bigger impact on women’s careers than on men’s, even in the technology sector how the future workplace and the introduction of hybrid working is going to affect women’s career prospects the risk of hybrid working on the visibility of women and how this will have negative impact on your organization's gender pay gap what you can do to stop this from happening and protect your reputation as a forward-thinking employer striving to attract, develop, and retain female talent in its workforce.   Key resources mentioned in this episode: Find out more about the Women In Technology Leadership programme HERE. Annual report 2020 of the Women and Work All Parliamentary Group Hackajob’s survey on What Do Tech Talent Want in 2021 Does Working From Home Work? PwC’s Women In Work Index 2020   Book an exploratory chat: Book an exploratory chat with me! I’m offering exploratory calls with me so that you can ask any questions you have about the work I do with technology companies on attracting, developing, and retaining your female talent so you can close the gender pay gap. If you’d like a totally transparent conversation about how working with me could support your organization’s talent goals, email me to book a call now: [email protected].   Sign up to newsletter: If you’re looking to stay in touch with the latest industry trends, research, and best practice to develop and retain your female talent so that you close the gender pay gap and bring major benefits to your organization in 2021 and beyond, sign up to my monthly newsletter here: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/newsletter-signup/.   Connect with Sherry: Email me: [email protected] Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherryRB Connect with me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrybevan/   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/

Sometimes, when I reach out to technology companies to find out what they’re doing to close their gender pay gap, they tell me “We don’t have a problem, we have an equal pay policy.” You can have an equal pay policy and still have a gender pay gap. The two are related, but they are not the same.   In this episode, we explore the difference between an equal pay policy and the gender pay gap so that you understand how your employer is offering equal pay and still have a gender pay gap. In order to close your gender pay gap, your organization needs to think more broadly about how to attract, retain, engage, and develop more women through the talent pipeline.   Key resources mentioned in this episode: Find out more about the Women In Technology Leadership programme HERE.   Book an exploratory chat: Book an exploratory chat with me! I’m offering exploratory calls with me so that you can ask any questions you have about the work I do with technology companies on attracting, developing, and retaining your female talent so you can close the gender pay gap. If you’d like a totally transparent conversation about how working with me could support your organization’s talent goals, email me to book a call now: [email protected].   Sign up to newsletter: If you’re looking to stay in touch with the latest industry trends, research, and best practice to develop and retain your female talent so that you close the gender pay gap and bring major benefits to your organization in 2021 and beyond, sign up to my monthly newsletter here: http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/newsletter-signup/.   Connect with Sherry: Email me: [email protected] Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherryRB Connect with me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrybevan/   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! http://www.sherrybevan.co.uk/podcast/