In this new decade of fast-evolving technologies, the cyber world has become more complicated with cyber security emerging as one of the fastest-growing sectors. why do you think there is a lack of women workforce in cybersecurity
We spoke to some professionals about their opinions on the lack of female representation in the tech industry and why do they think that the future of tech is female.
These few years have seen an exponential growth in the technological sectors, bring with an array of consequences, the more serious ones being cyber-attacks. Therefore, effective defense mechanisms have been regarded as an urgent necessity, as cyber-attacks are becoming more disastrous as our dependence on IT increases.
Symantec calculated that 14 adults become the victim of a cyber-attack every second, or more than one million attacks every day. Concerning this situation, cyber-security has become an emerging sector that is devising defense strategies (i.e., countermeasures) that preserve confidentiality, integrity and availability of any digital and information technologies. Corporations are increasingly concerned with the importance and immediate requirement of cybersecurity for their companies.
The current pandemic, where on one hand accelerated technological adoption, on the other hand exposed the vulnerability of the tech industry and tech inequalities among societies. World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021 ranks cyber risks among emerging global risks. As hackers and cybercriminals devise innovative ways to access sensitive information, even large companies and corporations are on their toes about security vulnerability.
In recent times, companies like Yahoo!, Uber and Target have faced security threats, with data breaches making headlines. Information security analysts, or cybersecurity specialists, are more in demand than ever.
The cybersecurity field is rapidly growing and that is mainly because business, however big or small, simply cannot afford a data breach, especially in a post-COVID technology-driven environment. According to IBM, data breaches cost businesses an average of US$3.62 million—which is more than enough to put many companies out of business. Similarly, the number of data breaches and the cost of cybercrime worldwide have also rapidly increased, almost double the total cost of 2015. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 28% increase in the demand for information security analysts between 2016 and 2026.
Keeping in view the rising risks and the potential demand for skilled labour, diverse perspectives are desperately needed in the cyber security industry. The cybersecurity industry, which currently has a lack of female representation, will stand a better chance if organisations bridge the gender gap. By bringing female representation, organisations can diversify operational thinking, innovation and eventually profitability.
According to a survey performed in August 2018 by ISC2, women made up 24 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. On the contrary, Cybersecurity Ventures reported that in 2019, 20 percent of the global cybersecurity workforce were women, featuring a decrease in skilled labour.
Women in tech are underrepresented, underpaid and undervalued. Diversity is critical in tech, as it enables companies to create better and safer products, focusing on inclusion. In an industry that thrives on diversity, this gender gap is very large and one that has severe consequences. The lack of women in this industry could partially be a result of gender bias and an improper perception that has been portrayed by the media.
JASMIN OMERCIC
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA (IIUM) SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, MAQASID INSTITUTE, USA
Over the last three centuries, there have been multiple industrial revolutions (IRs), each of which brought new means of production, professions and lifestyle. Nevertheless, no industrial revolution has brought about as much change as the IR5, which we increasingly face in contemporary times where technology is central and much of human interaction has already shifted into the cyberworld. Experts have deliberated on how the coronavirus pandemic intensified the shift from IR4 to IR5 where cybersecurity naturally became a dominant topic of discourse considering the online interactions of corporate, educational, governmental and other international and national organisations. Hence, cybersecurity became a pressing challenge for stakeholders and shareholders. In other words, the world of digitalisation and automation has embedded with and greatly depends on the cyberworld’s degree of security.
A distinct feature of the latest IR is greater inclusivity, notably appealing to women. Although the IT sector has predominantly been male-dominated, the role of females is now being increasingly recognised, and the sector has emerged as one where women can potentially foster progressive careers, naturally befitting the universal role of women. It is undeniable that cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing sectors in our highly technology-driven world. Big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and internet of things (IoT) foster automation and ever-greater sectoral and disciplinary interdependence all point toward the centrality of cybersecurity. We may say that the future lies in the paradigm of Integration of Knowledge (IoK) and qualitative Knowledge Management (KM). All of the referred fields of study are greatly male-dominated since their inception, which explains why not many women make up the workforce necessary to drive research and development (R&D) in most fields and equally so in cybersecurity. However, this does not mean that females are less capable than males or vice versa.
We know that the corporate world does not distinguish between gender when talent is identified, however, it is evident that men dominate in the STEM fields. Nevertheless, the dominance of males in any sector does not deny or segregate the role of females. A simple speculation could be that males, traditionally may have been more outspoken by nature as breadwinners while females play a pivotal role in the core, within the family or have simply avoided exposure. Hence, it would not be surprising to discover how females were central to the R&D of any sector since the first IR. A read on the history of a field’s development may help to identify female contributions that have counted as pillars of development. Even reference to the history of civilisations have always revealed how behind every great leader stood a great woman, in cases where the leader was not female. However, history has recorded great female leaders and they remain an inspiration to many generations, including ours. Thus, we could say that females actually had an equally great role in the development of bodies of knowledge as males just that the stories of their contributions failed to reach the stage. Articulation of the female role remains crucial to unleashing the hidden talent and paving the road for them.
IT professions have promoted a new nature of work, commonly being referred to as the ‘intellectual nomad’, enabling employees to work from anywhere. The obtained freedom within the IT world of professionals greatly appeals to women due to their internal affinity to stay home and nurture a family as compared to men who for ages used to be the hunters and gatherers. In our times, IT and cybersecurity per se represent a greater source of welfare for the family in terms of remuneration whereby the future female role in this sector entitles them to be the main caretakers of the family as well. This is a reason why the future of cybersecurity may be greatly female, as a diversion of energy and roles to the appropriate gender unleashes the energy of the other gender for new innovation.
Females may adopt the roles of cybersecurity experts partially due to their nature and the opportunities received. It remains to be researched what role females played in the innovations since the first IR. However, the position and influence they rendered stifled their voice and value-added know-how. Female contributions to the IRs are undeniable and have become apparent in our times where the articulation of one’s talent is equitable by gender. Females are reclaiming their leadership roles in the world and embellishing it with greater peace and security. It has always been noted how greater female leadership would foster greater global peace. In other words, there would be fewer wars, hunger, or poverty but rather more harmony, fulfilment of needs, growth and development. Many of the global agendas like sustainable development goals (SDGs) forecast that as the potential solution to pressing global issues.
Cybersecurity is a great female enabler and has been identified as the potential sector where females could acquire the strings required to nurture a greater and more peaceful world. Cyber security is an avenue of promoting the potential role of female value addition to the sustainability of the world in light of the SDGs. Reinforcement of the greater role of women in the world via the global agenda of SDGs is proportioned with the role of women in a key sector of world affairs, namely cybersecurity. It even elevates the unique Islamic stance towards the role of women in society and facilitates the attainment of maqasid (objectives) of Shari’a. This appeals to the trend of female inclusivity in the Islamic finance FinTech sector where cybersecurity is an essential need.
Moreover, women as natural caretakers are inclined to be great regulators. Regulation is key to our world affairs and has become the core of our economically driven world. Women not only regulate and groom children but even their men, which qualifies them in spirit as excellent professionals navigating cybersecurity affairs. Everyone knows that a woman raises a generation. Lastly but significantly, female natural disposition and match with the nature of the cybersecurity sector’s role still demand mastery of the subject matter which reinforces the need for equity in female education. Thus, focusing on the nurturing, fostering and elevating of female talents becomes key to actualising the notion of our narrative, namely the greater female role, if not dominance, in the tech industry.
ALTHOUGH THE IT SECTOR HAS PREDOMINANTLY BEEN MALE-DOMINATED, THE ROLE OF FEMALES IS NOW BEING INCREASINGLY RECOGNISED, AND THE SECTOR HAS EMERGED AS ONE WHERE WOMEN CAN POTENTIALLY FOSTER PROGRESSIVE CAREERS.
FAYRUZ MOHAMED
NATIONAL CHAIRPERSON
SOUTH AFRICAN
NATIONAL ZAKAH – FUND (SANZAF)
COVID has forced many of us to move many years forward into technology-driven mediums ensuring that we continue to live, work and socialise.
This, however, has had a direct result on the increase in the consumption of digital devices, platforms and instruments, which inherently resulted in an increase in cyber-attacks by scammers and hackers through means such as advanced web security vulnerabilities and classic email phishing. Based on the The State of Email Security Report by Mimecast, nearly 96% of organisations were targeted by an email-related phishing attempt and 75% attacked by Ransomware. Of those who paid the ransoms, 37% could not recover their data successfully. While Singleton revealed that in South Africa, the average cost of data breach per year was US$3.21 million – the highest in the southern hemisphere. The average cost of a data breach in South Africa has grown a massive 50% between 2020 and 2021 – the second-highest growth rate worldwide after Latin America, which has seen a growth rate of 52.4%.
Although technology has made things simpler and faster, it has also created an environment where we are more susceptible and exposed to being hacked and scammed.
Industries such as healthcare, insurance, banks and retail consider data breaches or cybersecurity as one of its highest priority risks. For reasons such as this, there has been a huge surge in the demand for trained professionals to protect confidential and sensitive data against malicious attacks.
While women are under-represented in many disciplines, they are more so in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and particularly in technology. Thus, has the training, campaigns, recruitment and promotion for women within this sector gained any traction?
Although it continues to be a very male-dominated industry, I do believe that women have crafted their space on this platform, however, the potential has been untapped and companies need to renew their commitment and increase their efforts to support women to thrive within the cybersecurity sector. Women in turn need to be brave and seize the opportunities presented to them.
ISC(2) Cybersecurity Workforce Study has revealed that roughly 24% of women are represented in the cybersecurity workforce. This information is supported by the statistics presented by the South African National Zakah Fund’s (SANZAF – a South African-based non-profit that serves the community in welfare and development) 2022 bursary programme, which has indicated that only 19% of the technology students registered at tertiary institutions within their programme are female. SANZAF has observed that students find this field quite difficult and instead opt to enroll for shorter courses as another means to enter the industry and seek employment.
There are many factors that play a part in the lack of women in the cybersecurity workforce. Women have not pursued careers within the technology sector due to influences by misperceptions and many barriers faced within traditions, cultures and society. The common stereotype that technology is a male-driven career has been one of these misperceptions. Lack of advancement to senior positions and the huge disparity in pay has surely contributed to this. In addition, women are generally steered towards the traditionally accepted careers such as teaching, nursing and administrative roles. The lack of women role models within cybersecurity has undoubtedly negatively contributed to women pursuing this sector as a career possibility. Organisations thus need to do more to create a working environment conducive for women to participate and thrive.
The under-representation of women in cybersecurity directly filters into the lack of women holding leadership positions and eventually, board presence. Having served on a number of boards, it is evident that very few women take up the seat at the boardroom table having these specialised and required skills. However, in general, boards mostly rely on management to possess these skills and as a result are not always appropriately equipped to challenge management’s decisions and assumptions.
To aid women to succeed in this industry, we need our menfolk allies to play their part to hire, assist, promote and encourage women to ensure that their teams are diverse in gender, race and age. In addition, they need to play a more active role in creating opportunities for women to advance their careers within the cybersecurity industry.
One of the biggest challenges facing this fast-growing industry certainly will be the lack of talent. So how will this gap be filled without the participation of half of the world’s population? Enough research has been done to prove that having women onboard makes business sense. Thus, for this sector to continue in its trajectory, the future of tech is female.
Having worked in male-dominated industries my entire career, my advice to my women counterparts would be:
- Create a good networking circle with both men and women who support, motivate and inspire you.
- Have a mentor who you can bounce ideas off or guide you on how to handle difficult situations.
- Develop and empower other women around you to build your pool of skilled women.
- Don’t take a seat at the table unless you are willing to have your voice heard.
- Stay true to who you are and what you stand for and always bring value to the table so you stand out as a benchmark of and for excellence.
THE LACK OF WOMEN ROLE MODELS WITHIN CYBERSECURITY HAS UNDOUBTEDLY NEGATIVELY CONTRIBUTED TO WOMEN PURSUING THIS SECTOR AS A CAREER POSSIBILITY. ORGANISATIONS, THUS, NEED TO DO MORE TO CREATE A WORKING ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE FOR WOMEN TO PARTICIPATE AND THRIVE.
DR SAMEEN ZAFAR
PHD ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SULEMAN DAWOOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (SDSB),
LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
(LUMS)
As the world recovers from COVID-19, working online and working from home has become the new norm for many companies. This has resulted in the growth of the cybersecurity sector and there has been a proliferation of new cybersecurity firms. According to Microsoft, globally there are approximately 2.5 million cybersecurity jobs, but in 2021 women only represented about 25% of the total cybersecurity jobs.
Women generally feel there is a lack of equal representation and opportunities for women in the cybersecurity sector. I believe one of the main reasons why the women workforce is under-represented in this sector is that they are not getting equal opportunities for promotion, which may lead to them being discouraged and quitting the sector altogether. Women are also not being paid equal wages as men for the same roles in cybersecurity. There is also a conscious and unconscious bias, as while women apply for cybersecurity jobs, they get pushed over by their male counterparts.
In addition, self-limiting beliefs also need to be curtailed to encourage more women to pursue and excel in cybersecurity careers and “break through biases that limit women’s career options” A survey by Microsoft revealed that men are more likely than women (21% vs 10%) to feel qualified to apply for a cybersecurity job, whereas more women than men (27% vs 21%) believe men are seen as a better fit for technology fields. There is a need to change such self-limiting beliefs in women and also provide more education and training opportunities to them in the future to change the mindset of the industry and females themselves.
The strides in financial technology-FinTech disrupting the worldwide financial technology and services industry landscape. FinTech has ameliorated some of the issues faced in the traditional financial service sector and it has allowed the creation and enhancement of everyday products, in the areas of agriculture, energy, health and education. Various companies and individuals are looking at ways in which FinTech could be advantageous to females, especially young girls in terms of their education and careers. According to United Nations, women are in fact the harbingers of change with the potential to develop long-lasting, digitally enabled companies and businesses, which would be beneficial not only to women but society at large and would reap economical beneficial businesses.
I believe that with the right opportunities, training and skills women can make great strides in FinTech and break the glass ceiling, especially in the cybersecurity sector. Currently, only a few women are CEOs in the FinTech sector but they can serve as role models for millions of other women to step into the FinTech industry by providing them guidance in seminars and conferences. Further, coding programmes at schools and universities especially for girls could encourage them to join the FinTech industry. I think finally it is important for the organisations to make a conscious effort to increase the female labour force participation in the FinTech sector by giving them equality in wages and opportunities.
The future of FinTech holds tremendous potential for women to excel and contribute to the global economy.
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE ORGANISATIONS TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO INCREASE THE FEMALE LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION IN THE FINTECH SECTOR BY GIVING THEM EQUALITY IN WAGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.
THE FUTURE OF FINTECH HOLDS TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL FOR WOMEN TO EXCEL AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY!
