by Megan Branch, COO, CertNexus

Three years ago when I was asked to assist in developing a certification company, I inherited several very strong certifications and was thrown into development for this technology called the Internet of Things. I had stepped into a world of technologies that was mostly unknown to me and most of the world. I also stepped into another male-dominated, non-ethically diverse industry.

Because of this lack of diversity, many of the exam contributors tended to also fall into this narrow category. This can result in biased exams and foster inequity to non-white, non-western, female candidates. Luckily, I was supported by a CEO and leadership that recognized the need to assess and address this in our products and be reflective of our culture.

Since spinning out of our parent company in 2018, we have built our reputation on emerging technology and been working on diversity and transparency in our product development and corporate culture. In the spirit of transparency, it has not been a smooth or straightforward path but we continue to follow a road to expand equity in both. And in celebration of data here is ours:

- In 2018, less than 5% of our exam contributors were women and there was no representation from women of color.

- Today, 23% of our contributors are women.

- 35% of our contributors are individuals of color. 30% of them are women.

- With our last two certifications, CEET and CDSP, 60% of the contributors were female.

- 50% of our employees are female

So what are our goals as we continue down this journey? Recruiting women in cybersecurity is a primary challenge. Women remain underrepresented in the industry and, as a result, women qualified to act as contributors are fewer. Representation from Asia, Latin America, and Africa also continue to be a challenge. Due to logistics and challenges in location, qualified candidates are more difficult to reach through our typical channels. We continue to explore technology that does not limit contributors due to geographic factors, and our expansion of training partners across six continents provides us with greater access to qualified candidates. COVID-19 taught us so much about the value of remote meetings, and we will continue to embrace a global access to talent.

Ultimately, diversity in thought leadership is reflected in more equitable and fair certifications. In this way, we play our own role in expanding workforce diversity in emerging tech, one step at at time.

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CertNexus is a CTC Education Partner.