I have been advocating for gender equality in Cybersecurity for years [related podcast and post].
The statistics on the participation of women in the field of cybersecurity continue to be bleak, despite significant outreach efforts, including “Girls Who Code” and programs to encourage girls to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.
Women are just now rising to positions from which they can help other women break into the field, land high-paying jobs, and combat the dearth of talent in technology. Judy Dinn, the new Chief Information Officer of TD Bank NA, is doing just that. One of her priorities is to encourage women to pursue tech careers. She recently told the Wall Street Journal that she “really, really always wants to make sure that female representation—whether they’re in grade school, high school, universities—that that funnel is always full.”
The Wall Street Journal article states that a study by AnitaB.org found that “women made up about 29% of the U.S. tech workforce in 2020.” It is well known that companies are fighting for tech and cybersecurity talent and that there are many more open positions than talent to fill them. The tech and cybersecurity fields are growing with unlimited possibilities.
This is where women should step in. With increased support, and prioritized recruiting efforts that encourage women to enter fields focused on technology, we can tap more talent and begin to fill the gap of cybersecurity talent in the U.S.