Cybersecurity, women and minorities: findings and recommendations from a preliminary investigation

Abstract

This paper presents the work done by the ACM ITiCSE, 2013 Conference Working Group (WG) on Cybersecurity, Women and Minorities: How to Succeed in the Career! The ITiCSE 2013 conference was held July 1-3, 2013, in Canterbury, United Kingdom. The overall goal of the WG was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the reasons behind the lack of women and minorities within the field of Cybersecurity. This is not just an issue of academic or research interest, but is important in ensuring that a greater number of women and minorities progress through a full career in Cybersecurity. There are currently no statistics available on the numbers of women and minorities either currently enrolled in or graduated from these programs. There is a need to explore the full range of factors that influence women and minority's decisions not to consider a career in Cybersecurity.