Addressing gender equality in cybersecurity

Just 11% of the global cybersecurity workplace comprises women, leading the federal government to explore the reasons why.

The Women in Cyber Security Literature Review was conducted to probe the underlying causes of women’s low representation in the cybersecurity industry to date. It also provides research-based suggestions about how to create a more gender diverse workforce.

The review was undertaken by UNSW Canberra’s Public Service Research Group and the Australian Centre for Cyber Security on behalf of the Office of the Cyber Security Special Adviser.

It found that women in cybersecurity across the world encounter a number of barriers:

• Discrimination and stereotype bias are widely reported with many women perceiving that their opinions and technical expertise are not valued.
• Persistent wage inequality, which is more pronounced at the lower and middle ranks of corporate hierarchies, where most women in the industry are clustered.
• ‘24/7’ work culture of cybersecurity, particularly for workers with caregiving responsibilities.
• Perceptions of stalled or stagnant careers round out the most widely reported barriers and reasons for women’s attrition from the STEM and ICT careers.

Additional research is required to explore these issues further and to develop a baseline survey of the number of Australian organisations participating in cybersecurity, their demographics and processes.

The government will again be hosting its Women in Cyber mentoring program, with events across Australia, to show women who competed in the 2017 Cyber Security Challenge Australia the breadth and depth of cybersecurity careers, as well as provide them with support and mentoring opportunities. It will also continue to develop a coherent, action-oriented plan of practical initiatives, research proposals and measurement tools to increase the number of women in cybersecurity careers.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sergey Nivens

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