MI6 targets Mumsnet women to become 'Jane Bond' spies

Spies: Dame Judi Dench as 'M' in Casino Royale

United Artists

26 May 2016

Middle-age women are being targeted by MI6 recruitment chiefs to become a new generation of “Jane Bonds”.

Despite the image portrayed in Bond films of female spies nearly always being glamorous young women, intelligence chiefs are particularly seeking to attract more “mid-career” women to their ranks.

Bosses at the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) are also being rewarded for demonstrating “inclusivity” as part of the drive to recruit more women, which includes offering more flexible hours and support for those returning after having children.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee last year urged the security services to create a better gender balance among their employees.

Responding to the report today, the Government said that MI6, MI5 and GCHQ were targeting “middle-age and mid-career women” for recruitment — more like actress Dame Judi Dench than Bond girls such as Gemma Arterton — and were even advertising on Mumsnet. But despite the efforts, the proportion of women among new recruits to SIS in 2015-16 dropped by four per cent on the previous year to 41 per cent.

New targets to recruit more women to MI6 have been set and the report adds: “SIS has also begun to recognise and reward officers who demonstrate inclusivity and is publicising this across the organisation.”

Women make up just over 38 per cent of all MI6 staff and 41.6 per cent at MI5, where 46 per cent of new employees were female, a rise of five per cent.

At the spy listening centre in Cheltenham, changes to maths recruitment saw the number of applications from women rise to about 40 per cent.

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