A report by British parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has called for greater diversification of the country's security services — MI5, MI6 and GCHQ — with an emphasis to be placed on recruiting more women, Britain's own batch of 'Jane Bonds'.
Jane Bond? Women spy recruits urged in UK: The idea that a new cohort of British spies could be si… http://t.co/on7P8D8uTu #homemaking
— GreatTweets2Go (@Greattweets2go) March 5, 2015
The ISC study found that there was a "very traditional male mentality and outlook" in British intelligence, and that a more diverse group of employees could benefit the agencies' operational capacity.
"If all intelligence professionals are cut from the same cloth, sharing similar backgrounds and similar characteristics, then they are likely to share 'unacknowledged biases' which will circumscribe both the definition of problems and the search for solutions," committee member Hazel Blears said.
Despite two women previously heading up MI5, only 37 percent of Britain's 12,000 intelligence agency staff are female, well below the 53 percent in the rest of the nation's civil service.
The name's Bond, Jane Bond…Women account for 37% of MI6, MI5, GCHQ compared with 53% in Civil Service, reports @AliBunkallSKY
— Martin Freeman (@MFreemanHerald) March 5, 2015
This push to recruit more women through particular websites popular with parents, such as parental advice site Mumsnet, was part of a number recommendations made by the ISC report.
"The agencies should therefore use a broad range of mediums and include those specifically aimed at women and mothers — such as Mumsnet."
The findings have drawn praise from former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who worked to introduce similar measures to America's CIA.
"As Ms Blears rightly says, diversity should be pursued — not just on legal or ethical grounds, important as these are in their own right — but because it will result in a better response to the range of threats that threaten national security," she said in a statement.
