Western defence has made massive strides, but the sector has a massive gender problem – and it’s costing business, writes Naomi Hulme

At 28 years old, I found myself sitting in a boardroom of 18 men – all middle-aged, white men. Over four hours, I contributed nothing. Not because I had nothing to say, but because no one thought to ask me – until the very end, when someone finally acknowledged me by asking, “Where did you get that coat? My wife would love that coat.”

In those four hours, I learned that culture matters. I’d landed in that room not by accident, but because I’d been identified for a high-performers leadership scheme aimed at developing my skills in board management. And yet, there were certainly no skills developed that day.

Little did I know, this would become standard throughout my career. Women in defence and tech often hear they got where they are because they “ticked a box”. I’ve been told outright, “well, you were in the right place at the right time” or “it doesn’t hurt that you’re a female”. These statements imply that my skills and expertise are secondary to my gender. 

While Western defence has made massive strides that should be celebrated, the sector has a continuing gender problem: one that isn’t marrying inclusivity with genuine parity. 

The defence gender gap

Just last week, the ministry of defence released a social media post of a meeting held amongst industry leaders, touting this group for its commitment to innovation and building the UK’s skills and talent base. Around a table of 19, just two women sat. It felt eerily similar to my first board meeting, and not in a good way.   

And what we see in practice, so too do we feel across the world when it comes to policy. And just last month, the US defence department’s intelligence agency paused observances of Women’s History Month and Women’s Equality Day in response to President Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the federal workplace.

Meanwhile, tech – a sector that should be leading the charge on progressive hiring – has its own gender gap. Globally, women hold just one in five chief technology officer roles and a quarter of CEO positions. 

Beyond fairness, this lack of diversity is a strategic mistake. Research shows gender-diverse teams outperform their peers. The top quartile of companies for gender diversity are 25 per cent more likely to outperform financially according to a report by McKinsey.

In defence, where strategy and innovation are paramount, diverse teams make better, faster decisions. If we want to stay ahead in technology, warfare and security, we cannot afford to exclude half the population.

Parity over ‘inclusivity’

As a female co-founder of one of the fastest growing tech companies in the UK, I’m proud that at Skyral we don’t just talk about inclusion, we baked it into the foundation of our company from day one. Women make up 20 per cent of our workforce, with the majority of that 20 per cent holding roles in UX design, engineering, product design and delivery. Our senior leadership team is 20 per cent female – four times the UK SME average.