While awareness around gender diversity in the cyber security industry has improved, there is still work to be done to make a significant practical difference, according to a new report from CREST.

The not-for-profit body that represents the technical security industry took polls at a recent gender diversity workshop, finding that only 14 per cent of attendees argued that not enough work has been done to lessen the gender gap, while 86 per cent believed that while progress has been made, it is not nearly enough.

The survey also found that 59 per cent of participants classified their experience in the industry as mixed, having received support and enjoyed roles, but pointing to obstacles and challenges that had to be overcome as a result of being female.

The workshops had the primary objective of inspiring change and concluded that the main priorities should be encouraging girls at school to study computer science; improving visibility of female role models; challenging the perception of industry and perceived gender-specific roles; and industry-wide female mentoring and coaching.

The report suggested that the primary reason for the underrepresentation of women in the cyber security industry was a lack of interest in the subject from school age. When considering ways to make change, the report recommends that industry leaders could and should be responsible for approaching schools help educate and encourage students.

Schools could also promote initiatives such as CyberFirst’s Online Girls Competition, which aims to inspire the next generation of young women to consider computer science as an option with a view to a future career in cyber security.

CREST's findings also pointed to issues with current recruitment practices, including the way job descriptions are written, the language used and arguably even candidate requirements. Female representatives at the workshops agreed that the inclusion of training options on the job advert would encourage more female applicants, as would flexible working hours, good maternity policies and back to work support.

Another key finding was the demand for an industry-wide female mentoring and coaching scheme to create a stronger, closer female community whilst enabling women to grow and develop in their careers.

“It is encouraging that as an industry we are making progress but there is a lot more to do and improving the visibility of female role models will allow us to challenge the perception of the cyber security industry,” says Ian Glover, president of CREST. “Schools hold the key and we need to help them to encourage more girls into the industry - furthermore, the mentoring scheme would give a platform on which role models can help to coach and guide others, which in turn will help to challenge the perception of gender as it relates to the industry."

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