The diversity of sexes in cybersecurity is slowly improving, but inequalities are continuing – a new report finds that the field has 5% more than 2023, but that they are more exposed to other challenges in the workplace than male counterparts. About 32% of women interviewed said their organizations had experienced security layoffs in the past year, compared to only 23% of men.
For the month of the history of women in March, ISC2 deepened the data collected for its 2024 Study of cybersecurity labor. The certification and training organization interviewed 15,852 people responsible for cybersecurity in the workplace in the world, 14% of whom were women. In 2024, women represented 22% of world security teams on average, Compared to 17% in 2023The United States slightly lower than the average on representation at 19.2%.
But 16% of respondents said that the security team of their business contains no women, and that only 5% claim to have a uniform split of men and women. Women employed in cybersecurity roles tend to hold seniority, because 55% of women interviewed said they held management positions or higher and 53% are able to make job decisions. Only 7% are in C-Suite positions like CTO and Ciso, but there are less of these available roles.
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Women exposed in a disproportionate manner to the challenge in the workplace
The report revealed that 67% of women in cybersecurity are satisfied with their work, against 66% of men. Although this figure is high for both sexes, it marks a continuous decline in decline. In 2022, 82% of women and 73% of men declared labor satisfaction and 76% and 70% respectively in 2023. Analysts put this trend to growth “Economic pressures and workload.”
There is talent shortages well documented in the industry Leading to overworked staff, but ISC2 data suggest that women are more exposed to other challenges in the workplace than their male counterparts. In addition to the disparity between women and men who have experienced security layoffs in the past year, 40% of women interviewed have experienced cybersecurity budget and 42% have experienced hiring gels, compared to 36% and 37% of men, respectively. Only 31% of men in cybersecurity noted that their teams had frozen promotions and payment increases against 36% of women.
“The data shows that the organizations where participants work have experienced cybersecurity reductions at higher rates than male participants,” said ISC2 analysts.
