Cybersecurity

By Jessica Solyom and Kalani Rice

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM). This month was established in 2013 by President Barack Obama to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to provide resources users need to be safer and more secure online.

What is cybersecurity and why do we need it?

Cybersecurity can encompass anything related to or involving the safe transmission, storage, and use of information via computers or computer networks. A cybersecurity threat is defined by lack of preparedness for a massive security hack coupled with minimal resources and general inexperience in combating advanced cyber-threats. These factors can combine to create a low hanging fruit “epidemic” for local and tribal governments, organizations and businesses which hackers may be looking to capitalize on.

What is the status of women and girls of color in cybersecurity?

Last year, Forbes reported that by 2021, 3.5 million job openings will be available in cybersecurity. In line with research on women in the fields of IT, computer science, and computer engineering, women are grossly underrepresented in cybersecurity. In 2018, women made up only 20% of the cybersecurity workforce. The numbers for women of color are even lower. One study, focused on examining the experiences of women in historically male-dominated fields, found performance bias may explain early gaps in hiring and promotions in these fields. Men’s performance is often overestimated while women’s is underestimated. As a result, men may be hired and promoted based on their potential, while women are hired and promoted based on their track record. This can cause unfair challenges and barriers for women at the start of their careers when their track records are relatively short and can also influence occupational segregation where women get tracked for certain careers including entry-, lower- and even mid-level positions with no room for growth or advancement. For women who obtain successful placement within the field, practitioners report feeling like the “only one” in these fields. One in five women reported often being the only woman or one of the only women in the room at work. Survey participants indicated that although they are just one person, they often become a stand-in for all women—their individual successes or failures become a litmus test for what all women are capable of doing adding undue stress and pressure to those who have been able to break into the field.

Given the current climate of STEM and IT toward women, why is cybersecurity a good field for girls and women of color to consider?

For one, women and girls of color are becoming major users of technology in their personal life and in the workplace. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.8 million people in the United States work in computing occupations yet last year more than twice as many — 7.7 million Americans — said they use computers in complex ways in their jobs. As the number of e-commerce, e-trade, and computer users continues to rise, the need for cybersecurity also rises. In 2016, one study found the projected job growth in computing jobs to be 19% from 2015 to 2025, while the rate of increase is only 11 percent for all other jobs during that same time period. Thus, experience and training in cybersecurity can lead to diverse opportunities including computing jobs, in every sector, from manufacturing, to banking, agriculture, education, trade, and healthcare.

Besides keeping communities safe, pursuing educational and employment opportunities in cybersecurity has the potential to enhance economic outcomes for girls and women of color. Data show computer science skills in IT and cybersecurity lead to better paying jobs in the military, private sector, and local and federal government – all sectors that offer competitive benefits and retirement options. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), in 2015 the overall starting average salary for bachelor's degree graduates earning computer science degrees was projected to be at least $61,321, making it the second highest earning salary after engineering graduates who were projected to earn $64,891. That same year NACE reported that new graduates who majored in computer science enjoyed the highest full-time employment rate, at 76%, within six months of their graduation.

What can be done about barriers or challenges facing women and girls of color in cybersecurity?

We know that currently the US isn’t graduating enough women to be leaders in the fields of computer science and technology. In 2015-2016, women earned 57% of total bachelor’s degrees but only 36% of total degrees in STEM. This number was even lower among communities of color. As our Executive Founder, Dr. Kimberly Scott, mentioned in last month’s Kim’s Corner, although women of color currently constitute 39% of the female identified population in the United States, and will comprise the majority by 2060, at the university or college level, women of color make up less than 10% of all Bachelor’s degrees earned in computing.

Besides working to change workplace and classroom culture in STEM, increasing recruitment and retention efforts, and actively working to enhance inclusion for women another obvious answer is to include women in STEM conversations. Women, and particularly women of color, have worked hard to raise awareness about the challenges facing girls and women in STEM – and have offered innovative solutions. Because of their efforts we now have concrete ideas for how to turn the tide. If we want to to raise participation and success in computer science of girls of color, we must begin by considering how we think and talk about STEM. Successful STEM programs for girls emphasize the importance of ensuring computational thinking is responsive to communal goals and integrated early throughout K-6 and middle school curriculum. Moreover, we must ensure introductory STEM courses are available to scaffold learning and advanced computing courses are available for all students at the secondary and postsecondary level.

Through our CompuGirls program we have learned that one way to increase retention and improve confidence in STEM for girls of color is through cohorting. Cohort experiences are particularly beneficial for historically unanticipated and underrepresented students who may consider independence, individualism, and competitiveness in the learning environment as somewhat contrary to community values that deem generosity, sharing, harmony and group-oriented learning environments to be valuable. Because much of science and engineering curriculum and instructions are based on the philosophy of secularism, reductionism, and compartmentalization, the cultural discontinuity experienced by women in these fields is seen as creating obstacles for them to do well. We believe a cohort model helps reduce feelings of isolation and not belonging by providing a group-based learning context that emphasizes mutual learning and support.

How is CGEST addressing issues of cybersecurity?

We know the growing number of jobs in the computing field far outpaces the number of women earning bachelor’s degrees in computer science and similar fields which is why we work to increase interest and confidence in computer science programs among girls of color. However, this does not mean we ignore systemic factors that create the conditions for girls to remain underrepresented in these fields. Our research and advocacy teams seek to educate practitioners, educators, policy makers, researchers, educators, administrators, and other stakeholders about the challenges facing talented young women of color and strategies for promoting inclusive environments and opportunities for girls to thrive.

Our CompuGirls and CompuPower programs identify girls who are underestimated in STEM, including those who are interested in technology and those who do not currently consider STEM a career goal. We are deliberate in recruiting and supporting women and Black, Latinx, American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian girls. Our programs prepare young girls of color to develop not just a stronger identity as an emerging computer scientist and technosocial change agent but an identity that is intersectional and does not separate community, academic, professional, and science identity into separate categories. We encourage girls to apply computer science learning to consider how those skills can help address or solve modern community challenges that matter to them. All of this improves retention.

In the upcoming years, you can look forward to CGEST expanding to include a cybersecurity focus in programming. We will continue to establish partnerships between colleges and universities and industry professionals. Through intentional industry mentor partnerships and professional development efforts, CGEST has connected students with mentors, learning experiences, and potential employers. This strategy has been mutually beneficial as employers have also been connected with rising industry talent. We believe that because computer scientists are so in demand – and public institutions train them – that federal, state, and local agencies should be engaging in partnerships with universities and Center’s like ours to boost the workforce and talent in this area and are working hard to expand our reach in this area.