International. The labor gap between men and women has not yielded since 2021, a study recently carried out by Linkedin showed. This research also established that women constitute 41.9% of the current workforce, according to Infosecurity.
All in all, women's representation has increased considerably since 2016 in certain specific industries, such as government and public sector (+1.8 percentage points in 2022 compared to 2016), infrastructure (+1.16), professional services (+0.95), and technology, information and media (+0.94).
In the technology sector, it was found that last year women held 25% of cybersecurity jobs globally, compared to 20% in 2019 and 10% in 2013.
Based on such a trend, it is predicted that women will represent 30% of the workforce in the area of global cybersecurity by 2025, a figure that would increase to 35% by 2031.
However, the gender gap remains huge and currently only 17% of information security management (CISO) positions in Fortune 500 companies are held by women.
Lack of personnel
The cybersecurity industry faces a global shortage of human talent and 70% of cybersecurity workers feel their organizations do not have the staff to effectively defend against cyberattacks, according to research conducted by ISC in 2022.
At the same time, it is estimated that there are currently more than 3.4 million vacancies for cybersecurity professionals. However, many organizations set hiring standards that contribute to talent shortages.
For example, specific skills, or experiences of five or more years, are often required for entry-level positions, rather than looking for people who demonstrate capabilities that complement the needs of companies.
Such a scenario is contributing to the gender imbalance in the workforce, the ISC study revealed. This is apparently because only 30% of women under 30 can prove the complex set of requirements.
