Featuring a article from Symantec Security Response Threat Intel’s #WednesdayWisdom Medium column, a weekly read to help improve your cyber security knowledge and keep you informed on important developments.
Today is International Women’s Day, a global day to celebrate the achievements of women and call for gender parity in all walks of life around the world.
So, it is a fitting moment to consider the position of women in STEM and, in particular, cyber security.
Research carried out by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) in the US in 2015 found that just one quarter of computing jobs were held by women. The disparity in cyber security is even more drastic, with a survey by ISC2 in 2015 finding that just one tenth of those working in cyber security were women.
That same survey also found pay inequalities, with 47 percent of men reporting salaries of $120,000, compared to 41 percent of women.
The underrepresentation of women in cyber security is significant for many reasons. Many studies show that gender diverse organizations perform better. However, the cyber security industry has a more immediate talent gap problem with the demand for cyber security talent expected to rise to six million globally by 2019.
Read more from Symantec Security Response here.