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“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton
Earlier
this year, members of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) along
with industry peers, participated in a Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) event
focused on women in cyber. PM&C invited
participants to respond to several questions, to understand and address the
causes of low participation by women in cyber security careers. This was a key action
outlined in Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy, under the theme of A
Cyber Smart Nation.
During
the event, questions were discussed in roundtable settings followed by panel
discussions to bring key points to the larger group.
The
first question asked was ‘What are the barriers to women choosing cyber
security careers? What can be done to address these barriers?’ One of
the key outtakes was that “both within the industry and externally, role models
and mentors were a significant factor for participants pursuing a career in
cyber security. These role models or mentors were not always female, some
participants described males who had encouraged and supported them in their
endeavours. Importantly, participants noted that role models could be anyone
in their lives, from parents, to friends, to management staff, to people they
had never met”.
Interestingly,
ISACA’s (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) 2017 Global Survey
of Women in Tech asked a similar question regarding to barriers for women in
technology in general. Almost half of
participants raised a lack of mentors and role models as the top two barriers
to entry.
Finally,
the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study: Women in Cybersecurity
– sponsored by (ISC)2 and Booz Allen Hamilton had 19,641 respondents from 170
countries, likely making it the largest study of its kind ever conducted. The study indicated that 61% of women
surveyed reported job satisfaction and more likelihood to succeed in their
careers when mentoring, training, sponsorship and leadership programs were
available.
The
correlation between how women feel about their role in the industry and the
offering of mentorship and support is clear across the globe.
In
August, the Australian Women in Security Network will host a panel discussion
at the Gartner Security & Risk Summit.
The panel will compromise of male and female AWSN members providing
their feedback on their roles as mentors and role models in the industry and
the impact of great mentoring relationships. When landing on a panel topic, we
saw the PM&C commentary about the need for mentors and role models as a key
outcome – and one that should be talked about more broadly.
With
many incredible leaders in the industry, and some emerging talent to be
harnessed, the AWSN is always encouraging mentoring conversations and
highlighting the great work of some of Australia’s cyber security role
models. If you are having trouble
finding a mentor, please reach out here,
join us at Gartner in Sydney on 22 August or alternatively, let us know how
mentors have made an impact in your career?
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| (c) AWSN 2017 |
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organisation or association.
