Gender diversity in cyber security is slowly improving but inequalities continue – a new report finds that the field has 5% more women than in 2023, but that they are more exposed to other challenges other than male colleagues. About 32% of female respondents said their organizations experienced security settlement over the past year compared to only 23% of male respondents.
In Women’s History Month in March, ISC2 deeper into data collected for its 2024 CyberSecurity Workforce survey. The certification and education organization investigated 15,852 people responsible for cyber security in workplaces around the world, of which 14% were women. By 2024, women accounted for 22% of global security teams on average compared to 17% by 2023, with the US slightly below average of representation of 19.2%.
But 16% of respondents said their company’s security team does not contain women at all, and only 5% claim to have a smooth division of men and women. Women who are employed by cyber security roles tend to keep seniority as 55% of female respondents said they are in managerial or higher positions and 53% are able to make employment decisions. Only 7% are in C-suite positions like CTO and CISO, but there are fewer of these roles available.
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Women are disproportionately exposed to challenges at work
The report found that 67% of women in cyber security are satisfied with their jobs compared to 66% of men. While this number is high for both genders, it marks an ongoing falling trend. By 2022, 82% of women and 73% of men reported job satisfaction and 76% and 70% respectively in 2023. Analysts reduced this trend to grow “financial and workload pressure.”
There are well-documented talent shortages in the industry that lead to overtime staff, but ISC2 data suggests that women are more exposed to other challenges other than their male colleagues. In addition to the difference between women and men who experienced security tax returns over the past year, 40% of women’s respondents experienced cyber security budget cuts and 42% experienced hiring freezers compared to 36% and 37% of men respectively. Only 31% of men in cyber security noted that their team had frozen promotions and wage increases compared to 36% of women.
“The data shows that the organizations in which female participants work have experienced cybersecurity cuts at higher rates than male participants,” ISC2 analysts said.