Gender diversity in the intelligence Agencies

‘Diversity’ is used
expansively, referring
to a workforce that is
varied and representative
along all possible cultural
discriminators, including
but not limited to race,
colour, religion, gender,
sexual orientation, age,
disability and class.
This Report examines
the case for greater
gender diversity within
the Agencies, staff
experience on a day-today basis, the initiatives
the Agencies have
implemented, and –
crucially – what more
could, and should, be
done.

The business case for diversity
1. Diversity is not about ticking boxes and complying with legal

requirements. Whilst it is important that public sector organisations
should try to reflect the communities that they serve, that in itself is
not a business driver. Why should an organisation be diverse? What
is in it for them? Of course, by casting the recruitment net wide –
regardless of age, race, gender or sexual orientation – organisations
are ensuring that they capture the widest possible talent pool. But
most importantly, it is the variety of ideas, the competition, the
challenge, the lack of ‘group think’, and the interesting collaborations,
that a diverse workforce brings to an organisation. If organisations are
only recruiting and promoting one sort of person, then they are only
going to get one sort of solution to a problem. Even with some of the
brightest and the best, if they are cut from the same cultural cloth, this
will inevitably result in a narrower perspective.
2. The private sector has begun to realise that an organisation will
get a competitive advantage from a diverse workforce. Diversity is
increasingly seen as an investment in the business itself. Diversity can
improve the reputation of an organisation, help attract and retain
talented people, improve innovation and creativity amongst employees
and improve the motivation and efficiency of staff. Although, even
with the benefit of this enlightened thinking, the private sector has
some way to go to achieve a diverse workforce.
3. There is some room for optimism given recent progress in terms of
increasing women’s representation on Boards. Three years on from a
review by Lord Davies of Abersoch into ‘Women on Boards’, there are
now a growing number of women in decision-making roles. Figures
from October 2014 show that women now account for 22.8% of
Board positions in the FTSE100, up from 12.5% in 2011. However, it
is noteworthy that only five FTSE100 companies have women Chief
Executives. Equally, other problems still persist. In the technology
sector, for instance, just 17% of jobs in the UK in 2011 were held by
women (a disappointing drop from 22% in 2001) and the percentage
of technology and science degrees awarded to women also saw a
dramatic fall from 37% in 1985 to 18% in 2011.
4. It is clear that any public sector organisation where 65% of

employees are male, rising to 83% in the senior levels, and nearly
100% of senior staff are either white or have not declared their
ethnicity, does not reflect the community it serves.1 The intelligence
Agency described in these statistics was criticised by the Cabinet Office
for its ‘poor’ delivery against diversity targets; and the then Director
admitted candidly to this Committee in 2012 that their performance in
this area “… is not good enough”.2 The Committee, in its 2011–2012
Annual Report, described progress as “lacklustre”.3 While the wider
Civil Service has seen the percentage of women grow from 46% in
1
2
3

Written evidence – GCHQ, 19 September 2012 and August 2014.
Oral evidence – GCHQ, 1 March 2012.
Intelligence and Security Committee, Annual Report 2011–2012.

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