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Barbara Maigret , Global Head of Sustainability and CSR , Fortinet
While cybersecurity certainly has its technical aspects , it is not just a technical industry . Like any growing industry , there are a wide variety of job opportunities that require human skills . These include analytical , communication , management , and interpersonal skills that are equally important to the organisation ’ s success and positively impact the industry .
Problem # 2 : Young women are underrepresented in STEM programmes
of the high-tech sector , women account for 47.7 % of the global workforce . And they also make up 50.2 % of the college-educated workforce .
And the gender gap is even wider within the cybersecurity industry where , according to the ( ISC ) Cybersecurity Workforce Study , women only make up 25 % of the global cybersecurity workforce . This gap is certainly not because there aren ’ t any jobs . According to that same study , the cybersecurity industry urgently needs 2.72 million more professionals . And while 700,000 cybersecurity professionals entered the workforce in the past year , the global workforce gap was only reduced by 400,000 , indicating that global demand continues to outpace supply . Women are just generally not applying for or being recruited to fill these positions .
This lack of gender equity has also directly contributed to the low percentage of women who hold cybersecurity leadership roles . In 2021 , for example , only 17 % of Fortune 500 CISO positions were held by women , with only one female CISO in the top ten US companies .
There are three main reasons why women continue to be underrepresented in the cybersecurity industry :
Problem # 1 : Cybersecurity is seen as a man ’ s career
Many women don ’ t consider cybersecurity a career path because it ’ s primarily seen as a male profession . This image is reinforced by popular media , such as Eliot Alderson in the Mr Robot TV series , where cyber activities are performed by young geeks in hoodies working late at night in a dark room lit only by their computer screen . While it may make for compelling TV , this stereotype is inaccurate and off-putting for many women , inadvertently contributing to gender disparity in the workforce .
One reason why so few women apply for cybersecurity positions is they are less represented in STEM-based programmes . But there is no reason why the technical aspects of a career in cybersecurity should be off-putting for women . The fact is , standardised math tests for fourth , eighth , and 12th graders show little gap in the scores between female and male students . But according to MIT Women in Mathematics ( WIM ), one of the drivers of the gender gap in technology fields is not ability but “ stereotype threat .” This happens when an individual worries about confirming negative stereotypes , leading women to conform to gender expectations by performing worse on assessments and decreasing their interest and persistence in STEM fields .
Pervasive gender biases , few female role models , mistaken beliefs about technology being a maleoriented industry , and , sadly , teachers and parents who steer girls away from technology studies have combined to break the confidence of many young women otherwise suited to pursue a STEMrelated degree . This is a global issue , with women generally earning less than 20 % of all STEM degrees . According to Yale University , US women only earned 18.7 % of computer science degrees . In the UK and across 35 European countries , fewer than 1 in 5 computer science graduates are women . And women hold only 18.5 percent of STEM positions in South and West Asia and 23.4 percent in East Asia and the Pacific . This bias starts early in their college careers . 49.2 % of women intending to major in science and engineering switch to a non-STEM major during their first year .
Problem # 3 : Bias in cybersecurity hiring
We cannot cure the lack of women in STEM overnight . So , organisations need to think differently about the composition of their cybersecurity staff . Many hiring managers-and HR-view individuals with backgrounds in computer science , engineering , and other STEM fields as the most qualified cybersecurity candidates , often ignoring those with degrees in other areas . But
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