Securing the Human: Broadening Diversity in Cybersecurity

Recent global demand for cybersecurity professionals is promising, with the U.S. job growth rate at 28%, three times the national average. Lacking qualified applicants, many organisations struggle to fill open positions. In a global survey, 2,300 security managers reported that 59% of their security positions were unfilled, although 82% anticipated cyberattacks to their systems. At the same time, the cybersecurity field is broadening, not only in technical concepts but also in human factors, business processes, and international law. The field has not become culturally diversified, however. Professionals hired in 2018 included only 24.9% women, 12.3% African Americans, and 6.8% Latinos. These facts create an opportunity for higher education: diversify the profession while increasing the numbers of skilled computer scientists. New and integrated methods of attracting student populations in the field of cybersecurity are needed. The working group goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of approaches used in higher education to diversify the cybersecurity field through literature review, analysis of the findings, and a survey on techniques used for diversification of the cybersecurity field.