Diversity in Security, Security in Diversity

Over the last 10 years we have seen an increase in the percentage of females in the cybersecurity industry. Latest reports show that 24% of cybersecurity professionals are female – significantly higher than the 11% we saw in 2013. Interestingly, women are more often reaching high-level positions such as CTO (7% of women vs. 2% of men), IT director (18% vs. 14%) and C-level executive (28% vs.19%).

The numbers show that once in the industry, many female cybersecurity professionals thrive and are taking pivotal roles in shaping the future of the cybersecurity industry. Many companies have recognised the enormous benefits of cultivating diverse working environments, including but not limited to, helping women break their glass ceiling in their careers.

I’ve seen this myself at IBM. Within the cybersecurity division we have many female role models who actively demonstrate that it is possible to achieve great success in the industry – from deeply technical Lead Engineers to business focused General Managers. I personally have had first-hand experience with this too, being given opportunities to lead innovative, key projects within the division. Having both the time and financial support to invest in my career has been a huge contributor to making my growth possible – from attending the Grace Hopper conference as a graduate, to travelling the world to meet customers and present at MasterClasses. 

So, we see that once inside the industry, many women go on to achieve great heights in their career, but – and this is a big but - this relies on them entering the industry in the first place. One of the biggest challenges we still face is getting people to join the cybersecurity industry. Evidence shows that young women often have already formed ideas about where they will head in their careers, even before they have finished high school. Not only are we competing with the influences of parents and peers, but the cybersecurity industry also has a pretty niche “image” amongst society.

When you talk about a career in cybersecurity, many people still picture a guy in a hoodie in a dark room with green text flashing past on a screen. Many people have the preconceived idea that you need to already be a hacker or an expert on cyber-attacks before you even get started. In reality, the opposite is true. It's not just about hacking or being hacked – it’s one of the most diverse and varied industries than spans multiple domains. It’s so important that cybersecurity attracts diverse talent, because cybersecurity is such a diverse problem.

We don’t just need hackers, we need designers, managers, finance experts, psychologists, testers – people from all sorts of backgrounds! In my opinion, our “image problem” is one of the biggest challenges we currently face in attracting diverse talent – and not just females.

This is especially true for young people. To attract future engineers into the industry we need to lead by example and become visible in our roles as “cybersecurity professionals”. By getting involved in school events, coding sessions, hackathons and competitions we can start to change the image of what it means to work in cybersecurity. Be loud and be proud about your role. The more we can showcase the varied and expansive careers that are possible in this industry, the better chance we have of filling those 3.5M unfilled cybersecurity roles and succeeding in fighting the good fight.

References:

1. "(ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study: Women in Cybersecurity", (ISC)2, Inc., 2021
2. "A guide for women in cybersecurity", Cybersecurity Guide, 2021
3. "Cybersecurity Talent Crunch To Create 3.5 Million Unfilled Jobs Globally By 2021", Sausalito, Calif., 2019