We have a critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals.  According to an article published in Cybersecurity Dive, we will be short 3.4 million cybersecurity professionals in 2023, and there seems to be a need for more interest from college students in joining the field, and professors to teach them.  The numbers of women in Cyber are dismal, only being about 25% of the field.  The government even launched the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy to fill the huge gap.

At the same time, the pandemic disproportionately impacted women in tech, with many having to drop out of their career fields.  A simple solution: let’s reskill the displaced women in tech into Cybersecurity.  They have the skill to do tech if they were in the field, we just need to attract them and give them the training needed to switch focus. 

We also know many women shy away from tech and Cybersecurity due to thinking they are not good in Math and Science.  My question: is that because they grew up in an era where they were told girls were not good in those subjects, and were not given the help they needed?  If they were interested in tech or cyber, could we teach them the needed Math and Science?

We have a large untapped market that could be ripe for the picking to help fill the Cybersecurity gap, we just need to encourage these women to get interested and train in the field.  Cyber is vast and there are so many directions one can take in it, and there is a great need.  With training and encouragement, women could be a great asset in shrinking the talent gap.

#womenincyber #womenintech