Cybersecurity has a diversity problem with women — and many opportunities

MacKenzie Brown has nailed the problem — and has good ideas for the solution. As she points out in her three part blog series, “The Unicorn Extinction” (links in a moment):

Overall, [only] 25% of women hold occupations in technology alone.
Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC), a nonprofit for empowering women in cybersecurity, states that females make up 11% of the cybersecurity workforce while (ISC)2, a non-profit specializing in education and certification, reports a whopping estimation of 10%.
Lastly, put those current numbers against the 1 million employment opportunities predicted for 2017, with a global demand of up to 6 million by 2019.

While many would decry the system sexism and misogyny in cybersecurity, Ms. Brown sees opportunity:

…the cybersecurity industry, a market predicted to have global expenditure exceeding $1 trillion between now and 2021(4), will have plenty of demand for not only information security professionals. How can we proceed to find solutions and a fixed approach towards resolving this gender gap and optimizing this employment fluctuation? Well, we promote unicorn extinction.

The problem of a lack of technically developed and specifically qualified women in Cybersecurity is not unique to this industry alone; however the proliferation of women in tangential roles associated with our industry shows that there is a barrier to entry, whatever that barrier may be. In the next part of this series we will examine the ideas and conclusions of senior leadership and technical women in the industry in order to gain a woman’s point of view.

She continues to write about analyzing the problem from a woman’s point of view:

Innovating solutions to improve this scarcity of female representation, requires breaking “the first rule about Fight Club; don’t talk about Fight Club!” The “Unicorn Law”, this anecdote, survives by the circling routine of the “few women in Cybersecurity” invoking a conversation about the “few women in Cybersecurity” on an informal basis. Yet, driving the topic continuously and identifying the values will ensure more involvement from the entirety of the Cybersecurity community. Most importantly, the executive members of Fortune 500 companies who apply a hiring strategy which includes diversity, can begin to fill those empty chairs with passionate professionals ready to impact the future of cyber.

Within any tale of triumph, obstacles are inevitable. Therefore, a comparative analysis of successful women may be the key to balancing employment supply and demand. I had the pleasure of interviewing a group of women; all successful, eclectic in roles, backgrounds of technical proficiency, and amongst the same wavelength of empowerment. These interviews identified commonalities and distinct perspectives on the current gender gap within the technical community.

What’s the Unicorn thing?

Ms. Brown writes,

During hours of research and writing, I kept coming across a peculiar yet comically exact tokenism deemed, The Unicorn Law. I had heard this in my industry before, attributed to me, “unicorn,” which is described (even in the cybersecurity industry) as: a woman-in-tech, eventually noticed for their rarity and the assemblage toward other females within the industry. In technology and cybersecurity, this is a leading observation many come across based upon the current metrics. When applied to the predicted demand of employment openings for years to come, we can see an enormous opportunity for women.

Where’s the opportunity?

She concludes,

There may be a notable gender gap within cybersecurity, but there also lies great opportunity as well. Organizations can help narrow the gap, but there is also tremendous opportunity in women helping each other as well.

Some things that companies can do to help, include:

Providing continuous education, empowering and encouraging women to acquire new skill through additional training and certifications.

Using this development training to promote from within.
Reaching out to communities to encourage young women from junior to high school levels to consider cyber security as a career.

Seek out women candidates for jobs, both independently and utilizing outsourcing recruitment if need be.

At events, refusing to field all male panels.

And most importantly, encourage the discussion about the benefits of a diverse team.

If you care about the subject of gender opportunity in cybersecurity, I urge you to read these three essays.

The Unicorn Extinction Series: An Introspective Analysis of Women in Cybersecurity, Part 1

The Unicorn Extinction Series: An Introspective Analysis of Women in Cybersecurity, Part 2

The Unicorn Extinction Series: An Introspective Analysis of Women in Cybersecurity, Part 3