The 11%: A Look at the Women Closing the Cyber Security Gender Gap

Women comprise only 11% of the global cyber security workforce, reports the (ISC)² 2017Global Information Security Workforce: Women in Cyber Security study.

It is easy to focus on the negatives surrounding this number. More than half of women in this field have experienced various forms of discrimination. Men are nine times more likely to be in managerial positions than women in this field. And the list goes on. Understanding this gap and the surrounding issues is important because it helps us identify the problems we need to solve.

But we also need to take action – to start adding to the 11% by encouraging women to pursue careers in cyber security, to start pushing for women in leadership, to start positioning women as key thought leaders in this industry.

Here at Focal Point, we work with and meet a lot of women who are doing incredible things in cyber security. They’re training the next generation of security professionals, creating global GDPR programs, analyzing malware, building software, mentoring young women, building cyber security programs for Fortune 50 companies, and so much more. So we decided to ask these women if they would work with us on a new blog series, recognizing the diverse roles women play in cyber security.

When we developed this series, we had these three objectives in mind:

• Focus on the variety of interesting jobs women hold in cyber security and learn more about their career paths
• Provide a resource for all women interested in pursuing careers in cyber security
• Identify ways we can overcome the challenges women face in cyber security

Over the last year, we’ve been interviewing these women – asking them questions about their jobs, their motivations, their challenges, and their their advice for women in this field. You can check out all our interviews below and keep an eye on this space as we add more interviews to the list.

• Kelly Schmitz, Cyber Security Instructor
• Franchesca Sanabria, Data Privacy Practice Leader
• LaTonya Hall, Cyber Entrepreneur and Security Consultant
• Christie Vescharen, Cyber Security Expert and Business Leader
• Dr. Lori DeLooze, Cyber Security Pioneer and Defensive Security Expert

If you are interested in participating in our series or would like to suggest someone for us to feature, we would love to learn more. Just complete the short form below, and we’ll be in touch.