More can be done to recruit women into the field of cybersecurity, according to a recent survey conducted by Champlain College Online, a private, regionally accredited institution.
The report, titled “The State of the Cybersecurity Workforce and Higher Education” was issued in a randomized, nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 participants to survey opinions on and awareness of cybersecurity and issues surrounding minorities and women in cybersecurity and what the recruitment efforts towards adults should be.
“… It’s clear that higher learning institutions have an opportunity to create programs that provide basic cybersecurity instruction to women, and give women the chance to work with mentors, instructors, and local businesses to see how they might fit into a cybersecurity role; additionally, employers looking to recruit more cybersecurity workers have an opportunity to conduct outreach specific to their female employees, giving them a pathway to a career they might not have considered otherwise,” the report said.
Michelle Tufford, CEO of OnlineDegreeDatabase.com said that the cybersecurity field is a growing industry and many jobs have gone unfilled.
“I think there are a lot of people who worry about cybersecurity, so this means that there would be a hot potential opportunity for cybersecurity training,” Tufford said.
The survey was led by Melissa Marcello, associate vice president at Champlain College Online.
Marcello told Diverse that a possible reason why women don’t see themselves working in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) fields is because “there’s bias in our education system”.
