“Women account for less than 11 percent of info security jobs, and more than 50 percent of women now working in science, engineering and technology jobs are expected to depart the industry altogether because of hostile work environments, according to Harvard Business Review,” Rachel King writes for ZDNet. “‘That number is appalling. We should all be shocked by that,’ reflected Michelle Cobb, vice president of Skybox Security, during a panel discussion amid the opening of the annual RSA security conference on Monday.”
“‘It’s a lopsided team in the field,’ summarized Fahmida Rashid, information security journalist and editor-in-chief for the RSA Conference,” King reports. “The IT security field is growing and changing rapidly, Rashid continued, demanding new skill sets, insights and experiences. But there is a general lack of IT skilled workers in the United States regardless, Rashid noted, positing that even after every male IT professional finds placement, there are still plenty of mission critical jobs going unfilled.”
King reports, “The question then becomes, according to Melinda Rogers, chief information security officer at the U.S. Department of Justice, how to sell the interesting elements of cybersecurity to women and encourage more candidates to consider IT security an opportune field.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
I have seen women who are very interested in tech finish their graduate or undergraduate degrees, but then choose not to pursue a career in tech because they’re not sure they want to spend the next 20-30 years in an industry that’s very male dominated. — Padmasree Warrior
I always tell women that the fact that you’re different and that you’re noticed, because there are few of us in the tech industry, is something you can leverage as an advantage.— Padmasree Warrior
A lot of people believe women can’t do tech-y stuff. Becoming nerdy doesn’t have to mean the short-haired guy, but can be the woman with very long, beautiful hair. — Weili Dai
I love technology, and I don’t think it’s something that should divide along gender lines. — Marissa Mayer
If I had been more self-conscious about being a woman, it would have stifled me. — Marissa Mayer
