By Editor
Many industries are working hard to even-up gender
disparity within their fields – and with good reason. Not only do companies
with a more diverse workforce offer a more obvious level playing field for new
recruits; studies have found that diverse workplaces are more
profitable, productive and have greater levels customer satisfaction.
These findings make it all the more concerning for
the information security industry, in which only 11% of positions in the global cybersecurity workforce are
occupied by women.
In an industry that is also facing a
recruitment crisis, with 40,000 of the 128,000 positions opening in the US annually
remaining unfilled, it is clear that more needs to be done to address the
cybersecurity gender gap as well as increase industry recruitment levels in
general.
An image problem
Despite being by definition a forward-thinking
industry, it remains a male-dominated profession. And, as highlighted by the Center
for Cyber Safety and Education’s (ISC) Biennial Women in Cybersecurity Report,
the workforce gap is “expected to reach 1.8 million by 2022”.
“I think there is an
unfortunate stereotype about technical jobs where people are spending all day
and night in a dark basement.”
This is no small problem, as Lysa Myers, a security
researcher at ESET, noted in 2015. Speaking to WeLiveSecurity, she expressed
her concern that “there are still just a handful of women in the industry,” a
fact she attributes partly to an image problem within the technical industry.
“I think there is an unfortunate stereotype about
technical jobs where people are spending all day and night in a dark basement,”
she said.
“But that isn’t reality at all.”
Information gap
One of the other reasons behind the gender gap –
and recruitment in general – is a lack of understanding about the different
roles available under the umbrella of information security.
This lack of understanding of the profession and
the possible career paths open to both men and women was also highlighted in a
recent report by Raytheon and NCSA cited in a 2015 article by Myers, “which found that the majority of both male
and female students are not being exposed to the possibility of jobs in this
industry.”
Redressing the balance
Fortunately, several organizations and initiatives
have been set up with the aim of redressing the balance. One of these
initiatives is ESET’s own Women in
Cybersecurity Scholarship, which awards a $5,000 scholarship to a
woman pursuing a college level degree and aspiring towards a career in
cybersecurity.
“The award was incredibly
helpful in that it paid for my books, additional training materials, and some
tuition. It more than validated my career choice.”
Last year’s winner, Chelsie Power, is now working
as an information security analyst, as well as studying for her Master’s Degree
in Cybersecurity at Cal State University, San Marcos.
She says: “The award was incredibly helpful in
that it paid for my books, additional training materials, and some tuition. It
more than validated my career choice, giving me the confidence to keep honing
my skills as an information security analyst.
“I think any field benefits from a diverse
workforce to leverage broader perspectives, especially in cybersecurity, where
cyberthreats and attack vectors are increasingly creative and sophisticated.”
Other organizations aiming to redress the balance
and improve recruitment rates include the US-based National Center for Women in
Information Technology, and Girls Who Code, which aims to educate and inspire high school
girls to pursue careers in computing.
Routes in
While the perception may be that those wishing to
pursue a career in cybersecurity need to have a technological background, this
is not necessarily the case – Myers herself started her career as a florist,
moving on to a receptionist’s role, before gaining experience in her company’s
virus lab.
A 2015 report written by Myers on Women in Federal Cybersecurity also revealed that several
high-profile female cybersecurity experts started their careers in different
fields. Nothing is impossible.
Sign of change?
“More people are realizing
what a solid, secure and interesting career choice it is.”
While the percentage of women in cybersecurity
security jobs remains low, there are some signs that interest in cybersecurity as
a career is beginning to increase.
ESET’s Cyber Boot Camp – a program in which students from San Diego
receive five days of intense education in the art of computer system defense –
has seen the percentage of girls in attendance rising from 0% to 40% in three
years.
Myers also believes that interest in the sector is
growing. Speaking in 2015, she said: “More people are realizing what a solid,
secure and interesting career choice it is, and as more companies are realizing
how crucial computer security is to their bottom line, there are a lot of
different types of people dealing with a lot of different aspects of
technology.”