In an era when everyone is online, the likelihood of cyber-attacks has increased significantly, as has the need for professionals in the domain. While the demand for trained people rises, there is also the need to bridge the gender gap in cybersecurity. Estimates show that women account for just 24% of the workforce. Apart from the notion that men are better at handling technical subjects, there is also the risk of discrimination and, most important, the lack of support for women who want to study in these technical fields.
Enterprises dealing with cybersecurity must understand the need for gender diversity and how women can contribute to this field. The first step would be to shed the image of “male hacker only” industry. This is a deep-rooted notion emphasised by web series such as Mr. Robot, Silicon Valley, Who Am I, among others. What’s more, job advertisements for cybersecurity positions are mostly focused on recruiting and showcasing the role as being more suitable for men.
Lack of awareness
The image of cybersecurity positions being focused on hacking and handling data breaches can be attributed to pop culture and media. However, cybersecurity involves a lot more with roles like security analyst, security engineer, security architect, security administrator, security developer, security consultant, cryptanalyst, security officer, virus technician, detection specialist being some that are important.
The under-representation of women gives rise to an uneven, and at times unfair, playing field. This consequently results in women getting isolated, requiring to overdo, compromising their physical security and so on. It would not be wrong to say that bridging gender gap will being enhanced creativity and innovative defences or solutions to field of cybersecurity.
The writer is Principal, Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi
