Just some time ago, I wrote a blog about the disparaging
work gap that exists in Cybersecurity today.
For example, there are many jobs that are available, but hiring managers
are having a tough time trying to fill those particular roles. A fair question to as now is: “Given the current economic climate, and if
the Cyber job market is hot, why aren’t they being filled quickly?”
The answer to this question is that the hiring manager or
recruiter is trying to find that “cookie cutter” candidate. Unfortunately, this person does not exist, even
if they do at all, it would be an exceedingly rare instance.
From what I have seen, nobody wants to give the younger crowd
a chance to prove themselves. This could
be the recent college graduate, or even a mid-seasoned worker who is
transitioning over to Cybersecurity. The
bottom line of all of this is it is completely wrong.
Hiring managers need to look at the person, and not just
as another piece of paper. Heck, if I
were hiring somebody, one of the key things that I would look for is their level
of passion and dedication. If they exhibit
strong traits in these two areas, the chances would be good if I hired them.
So, this brings up yet another point. And that is, the lack of women that are in
Cybersecurity, and especially those that are in managerial roles or even in the
C-Suite. In my 16+ years of being in Cybersecurity, I have known less than five
women that have been in it. Only one had
a managerial title, and only one had the guts to start her own Cyber consulting
gig.
Consider some of these stats:
*IT Security teams that are
made up with at least 30% women will have 40% fewer security breaches.
*Back in 2023, the Cyber workforce was 5.5 million strong…of
that, only 24% were women.
*For the thirty and age bracket,
women made up only 26% of that segment of the Cyber workforce.
*In the UK, in 2024, only 17%
of the total Cyber workforce was made up of women.
*Women make up less than 17%
of all the CISO roles in the Fortune 500.
*Only 3% of them fill the exact
same role (CISO) in the UK.
*Women in Cyber face 15% pay
cut when compared to their male counter parts.
*46% of women
in Cyber hold some sort of advanced degree (like an M.S or a Ph.D.),
whereas only 35% of their male counter parts have one.
*50% of women in Cyber have
faced a complete lack of support of support from their male colleagues.
*19% of women in Cyber have experience
some kind of “gender incident”, whereas only 1% of their male colleagues have experienced
it.
(SOURCE
: https://www.darkreading.com/cybersecurity-operations/are-we-closing-gender-gap-cybersecurity)
Yes, after you review the above
stats, it is a horrible situation. The bottom
line is women need to be given that chance to prove themselves. I am not saying that they must be treated in
any unique way, but hiring managers should at least give them that opportunity
to prove what they can do. Heck, I have
even experienced this myself many times in the past. Every time I would get turned down from a
from a tech writing job, it all came down to just one little bit of experience that
I did not have.
In fact, I even asked one hiring
manager: “Are you going to diss me with
my 16+ years of tech writing experience with just one little hang up”? When it comes to this, the fault is entirely
upon the hiring manager. They have a
wide latitude of discretion when it comes to the level of risk that they want to
take on when hiring a candidate. So in this
regard, they are taking a very micro view of their candidate poll, which is
very unfortunate.
For instance, what if that one
person who had that little bit of experience did not turn out to be such a stellar
employee? Remember,
when it comes to gauging experience in a candidate, look at the whole picture. Technical skills can be learned!!!!
Personally, I think, women would
make much better managers or CISOs than males would. In my professional world, I have had both male
and female bosses. Personally, my
experience with the latter has been far superior to the former. For example, when I had open heart surgery,
my boss was so understanding and patient with me when I was trying to recover
and when I was back on the job.
But in the end, it is Corporate
America that must make the push into hiring more women in Cyber. Unfortunately, the climate may not be so
great right now, taking any sort of DEI initiative might be frowned upon. But, keep in mind that this only affects primarily
the federal workforce, and not the private sector one. So, the C-Suite must take this risk.
It is also especially
important to keep that the Cyber Threat Landscape is changing on a minute by minute
by basis. True, more heads are better, but
this also includes having a mixture of people of diverse backgrounds and genders.
As it was pointed earlier, more women have advanced degrees than do
males. So why not hire more women onto your
team, and bring this advantage to the table?
True, it may be “just academic knowledge”, but from the bigger picture, which
is still another, unique perspective that can be brought about in case a
security breach did happen.
Also, colleges and universities
need to take a much more active part in encouraging women to at least explore the
possibilities of a career in Cybersecurity.
I am also an adjunct instructor of Cyber at a local junior college, and the
women who do sign up for my classes are all contemplating that as a potential
career route. I try to do my part and
further grow that seed of curiosity.
Remember in the end, its not
just about filling more jobs in Cyber. It also means greater gender and racial
diversification as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment