Cyber security remains one of the most male-dominated sectors in tech. While more women are entering the industry, there’s still a long way to go before the playing field is truly level.

For Laurel Martin, this year’s UN Women Australia theme, Balance the Scales, highlights the need for deeper change in how businesses operate and support women in the workplace.

“Coming from a heavily male-dominated industry, Balancing the Scales means more than removing barriers to entry,” Martin says. “It means ensuring women can excel with equal opportunities for growth and leadership.”

Martin believes representation alone isn’t enough if women don’t have a real say in how decisions are made.

“Balance is not a statistic,” she says. “There is no use hiring women if they lack a share of voice and power in the boardroom.”

According to Martin, diverse perspectives strengthen business performance.

“Diversity of opinion strengthens a business, and until every voice is heard and understood, a company remains vulnerable to gaps in strategy and performance.”

Where the scales are still uneven

While encouraging women to enter cyber security is important, Martin says the bigger challenge is keeping them in the industry and helping them reach leadership roles.

“Getting women into cyber is the first step, but retaining them and seeing them reach leadership roles is where the scales remain most uneven,” she says.

Martin says the imbalance often starts at home.

“The imbalance starts at home with the weight of unpaid labour, and businesses run the systems that penalise those who carry it,” she says.

Workplace expectations can reinforce the problem.

“When career progression is tied to visibility, long office hours, and after-work socialisation, it creates barriers for women juggling domestic roles and starting families,” says Martin.

While a lack of flexibility can worsen the situation.

“Failure to provide genuine flexibility widens the gap in promotions and long-term financial independence. To truly balance the scales, we must change how we measure and view commitment in the workplace.”

Rethinking recruitment

If Martin could change one system tomorrow, she says it would be how businesses hire.

“It would be the architecture of the hiring process,” she says.

Martin believes companies need to examine recruitment from the applicant’s perspective and consider policies to attract diverse talent.

“Businesses must approach recruitment through the lens of the applicant and ask what policies truly attract and support women, including workplace flexibility, parental and maternity leave, fertility healthcare, and women in teams and leadership.”

She also believes diversity on interview panels is essential.

“Every interview panel should be gender-diverse. This ensures we look for someone who adds to the culture, not just fits it.”

Building stronger networks for women

Martin is also focused on building stronger professional networks for women in cyber security.

She says many traditional corporate networking events are designed around activities that tend to attract male participants.

“Corporate networking in cybersecurity has relied on activities designed primarily for men, which rarely attract female attendees,” she says.

Recently, Martin hosted a networking event for female cyber executives at an unexpected location.

“This year, I hosted a dedicated event for female cyber executives at the Australian Open Women’s Semi-Finals, supporting another industry where females are marginalised,” she says.

“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. By creating a female-oriented space, we’ve unlocked a level of collaboration that’s often missing in traditional settings and in our own workplaces.”

Martin hopes these kinds of initiatives will help build stronger support networks for women in the sector.

“My goal is to provide them a safe, powerful community of female leaders they can lean on throughout their careers.”

A leadership style shaped by experience

Martin says working in a male-dominated environment has influenced the way she leads.

“Navigating marginalisation builds compassion and an ability to read the room and what is not being said,” she says.

She also believes leadership doesn’t require women to mimic traditional styles.

“I’ve learned that I do not need to emulate male leaders to be effective,” she says. “I lead with intuition and authenticity as strategic strengths. Emotional intelligence and advocacy are critical to a healthy, high-performing culture, and leadership means standing up for others and clearing the path for those coming up behind me.”

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