Women in Cybersecurity: A Study of Career Advancement

Although cybersecurity is considered a critical area of information technology, women continue to be underrepresented among its ranks. This study, which is the first of female cybersecurity professionals, examines the skills women need to succeed in the industry, as well as the nature of the barriers and challenges they face at all points in their careers. Using face-to-face interviews and paper-based questionnaires, the study explored the views of high-ranking female cybersecurity officers and gained insights into how the needs of women might better be addressed, whether they're starting out in the educational system or advancing to the board rooms of major corporations. As cybersecurity provides an increasing number of IT jobs and becomes central to managerial operations within companies, women's advancement to executive and managerial positions will be important both for gender equity and to meet the needs of the market. © 2010 IEEE.