Gender balance creates a good working environment

"No workplace benefits from having only women or men employed.” These are the words of Bettina Møller, Controller and "social figures geek" at Orange Cyberdefense Denmark. That is why she thinks, it’s very important that both girls and boys are introduced to basic IT at an early age. And she walks the talk. Her two daughters got their own home-built PCs when they were little - and today they work in the IT industry themselves.

Bettina Møller likes figures and analysis. When salaries must be calculated or numbers extracted from the financial system, it is Bettina who, with an experienced hand, makes it all add up. But even though it might sound a bit "nerdy", she is also very social and divides her time more than willingly between the home office and Orange Cyberdefense's offices in Brøndby and Malmø. She usually spends a few days a week at the Swedish office.

"Healthy relations and being a part of a close community are important elements for my well-being. The biggest challenge I have had in my working life was the Corona crisis, because we all had to sit at home for such an incredibly long time. It was hard to get used to - especially at first. It's perfectly fine to work from home on and off, and I think it is great to have that opportunity, but I'm happy to have a choice, so I can decide how much and when. The pandemic really highlighted how much our good working community means to me in everyday life", says Bettina.

Personally, Bettina likes that the cybersecurity industry is characterized by development and innovation - both technically and commercially. Years ago, the IT business was most about sales and servicing of hardware, and other consulting services. But that’s not the case today where IT and cybersecurity has become increasingly important in all aspects of our society, and is seen as a business-critical element, which means it has become a focus area, not only for IT professionals, but for the entire organization.

The development also affects the financial tools that Bettina works with daily, and that suits her well. Not only because she has a constant appetite for learning new skills, but also because the development makes many tasks easier.

“I have always had an interest in numbers and economics. I like doing payroll, but analysis tasks are my favorite. For example, when the sales department or management team needs figures on how much we have sold to a particular customer in recent years. Or they need an overview over our turnover or other data regarding a certain business area, which is important for our decision making – and our investments in the future. Then I start digging after all the relevant figures in my computer, and that role suits me really well", Bettina explains.

If the IT and cybersecurity industry is to attract more women, we must begin to think in long-term investments. For example, in relation to how both girls and boys are introduced to IT. Here Bettina does not mean in the form of smartphones, tablets, and polished apps, but IT as a tool to build solutions yourself, and here she speaks from experience. Bettina's husband also works with IT, and when the couple's two girls were only three or four years old, they each got their own home-built PC.

“It taught them something about what a PC consists of – hardware, operating system, and applications. The machines were of course also used for games and entertainment, but our girls understood that PCs are something you can build and modify yourself – according to your own specific needs. I think that has had an impact on the fact that they both work with IT today. They saw that it was also something for them – and that’s the curious mindset we must try to install in our children from an early age. If we are able to give more girls that experience, I think it will make a huge difference in the future", Bettina concludes.