Hiring More Women in Cybersecurity is Mission-Critical

Women make up 51% of the population, but just 24% of the cybersecurity workforce. The good news is that cybersecurity organizations around the world increasingly acknowledge the importance of gender diversity in the workplace. The bad news is that most still struggle with recruitment and hiring of women, with seven out of 10 leaders worldwide counting hiring women among their top three challenges, according to the 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Global Report.

According to the ISC(2) Cybersecurity Workforce Study, there are roughly 377,000 vacancies in the United States alone and the workforce needs to grow 65% in 2022 to effectively defend organizations’ critical assets. That said, something has to change in the recruitment of women to improve representation from just 24% of the overall cybersecurity workforce to representing half of that workforce.

Why Women?

While diversity and inclusion have become hot topics amongst company leaders, 70% of leaders surveyed are struggling to hire not only women but also new graduates and minorities. But during the last three years, either because of these challenges or despite them, three out of four organizations instituted formal strategies to hire more women, and nine out of 10 actively engaged women and new graduates. And there’s some more good news: Since the pandemic, 24% of organizations have reported they’ve found it easier to hire women.

With nearly 2.5 million cybersecurity jobs to fill, 377,000 of those vacancies are located in the United States and these vacancies are adding to the burden of security teams and organizations of every size. This shortfall can be significantly decreased by intentionally expanding the hiring and mentorship of underrepresented groups who have so much to bring to the table.

Women bring different perspectives and experiences to the cybersecurity table. This can help combat the diverse background of cyber adversaries. Teams with both male and female perspectives make better business decisions 73% of the time, a study from Cloverpop found.

What promotes innovation more than combining fresh viewpoints, concepts and experiences to address contemporary problems? Because cybercrime strategies are constantly changing, cybersecurity depends on this kind of innovation.

Opportunities Abound

As a first step to help combat the skills gap, organizations must equip all employees, both technical and non-technical, with cybersecurity awareness training so they can develop critical cyber-hygiene skills. This includes education on the latest phishing and social engineering techniques, as well as strong password protocols.

For a woman in cybersecurity, there’s a plethora of opportunities and a lot of scope for innovation. The field offers growth opportunities, exciting day-to-day tasks, and the chance to make a real impact on individuals, corporations, and national security. There is an urgent need for both women and men with the skills and understanding required to combat cyberattacks. It’s a great time for women to develop their skills to leverage the opportunity in cybersecurity and be part of the effort to build a more secure cyber environment.

Today, cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing sectors in IT and one of the top skill areas to learn. Every sector needs cybersecurity, including government services, healthcare, finance, retail and transportation. This gives women the chance to work with a variety of businesses and immerse themselves in different industries.

Busting Cybersecurity Myths

There are myths to overcome as well, such as the idea that cybersecurity is a man’s job–not for women. It’s ironic, actually, that the world of computers has for decades been thought of as a man’s work since women were the first ones to create computer code on punch cards. Not to mention the fact that Ada Lovelace is billed as the world’s first computer programmer and that Margaret Hamilton programmed Apollo’s flight software.

This leads to another myth–the belief that you need to know how to code to succeed in cybersecurity. There is a wide variety of job roles within the field that are fit for different personality types, skill sets and knowledge bases, such as research and development. And success in cybersecurity requires soft skills, too, like meeting deadlines, taking ownership of projects and tasks, increasing your ability to solve problems and being open to change as situations evolve.

The Opportunity for Women

Thus far, women have only taken up a quarter of the cybersecurity roles the world needs to protect its critical digital assets. Yet cybersecurity offers many fulfilling career paths and opportunities for women. As technology and its accompanying cyberthreats continue to evolve and accelerate, cybersecurity must also evolve, making it an intellectually stimulating field to work in.

Diversity itself is not the sole goal of recruiting women into cybersecurity roles. As the worldwide skills gap persists, it increases security risk for organizations: Actively including women in these roles is crucial to maintaining the digital landscape and our very way of life. At the same time, these openings provide new opportunities and high wage potential for women. Making women a recruitment priority is a win-win scenario for the cybersecurity sector.

Lynn Dohm co-wrote this article. Lynn is the executive director of Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS), which works to bridge the cybersecurity workforce gap and improve the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in cybersecurity.

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