It’s not working, but it can. Despite government and private sector efforts to retain more women in the global cybersecurity profession, women are sorely underrepresented in the industry.
What image flashes in your mind when you hear the word cybersecurity? Is it a room filled with happy, diverse, productive people making a difference in the world around them? Sadly no. More than likely, it’s a guy hunched over his computer wearing a dark hoodie with some ones and zeros floating above his head.
Over the past few years, women have represented approximately 10 percent of the information security workforce, but analysis from two recent (ISC) information security workforce surveys shows that women are quickly converging on men in terms of academic focus, computer science and engineering, and, as a gender, have a higher concentration of advanced degrees.