{"id":193353,"date":"2026-03-06T07:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/international-womens-day-2026-why-are-there-still-so-few-women-working-in-cybersecurity\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T08:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:15:14","slug":"international-womens-day-2026-why-are-there-still-so-few-women-working-in-cybersecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/international-womens-day-2026-why-are-there-still-so-few-women-working-in-cybersecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day 2026: why are there still so few women working in cybersecurity?"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Women\u2019s Day 2026: why are there still so few women working in cybersecurity?<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.itpro.com\/security\/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-working-in-cybersecurity<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-06 07:11:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.itpro.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

On International Women\u2019s Day 2026, the number of women in cybersecurity jobs is stagnating. Despite multiple years of initiatives, women still only make up around 22% of the global workforce, according to ISC2. The proportion of women in US cybersecurity jobs is under 20%.Women earn around 5% less than men in cybersecurity roles. Nearly half of all women in cybersecurity report career and growth challenges and almost one-third feel discriminated against at work.By 2031, it\u2019s predicted that women will make up one in three of cybersecurity employees. Yet the current level of momentum paints a frustrating picture that makes this seem unlikely.More than a decade into conversations about gender diversity, the structural picture \u201chas barely shifted\u201d, says Jane Frankland MBE, CEO at KnewStart and founder of the IN Security movement. \u201cAt the current pace, the projection that women could represent one in three professionals by 2031 feels like wishful thinking.\u201dOutdated modelsThe cybersecurity industry is still \u201coverwhelmingly male and built on outdated models of leadership, performance and career progression\u201d, Frankland says. \u201cDiversity initiatives are treated as a \u2018nice to have\u2019, rather than a strategic imperative \u2013 and that\u2019s the core problem.\u201dFor years, the narrative has been that there aren\u2019t enough women coming into cyber. But recruitment numbers tell a different story, according to Frankland. \u201cWomen are entering technical fields at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in far greater proportions than a decade ago.\u201dThe problem is retaining and promoting them. \u201cWhen women join cybersecurity, they excel, but then the environment pushes them out before they reach positions of influence,\u201d says Frankland.Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report – the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executivesThis issue is down to the structures of the industry, including how performance is measured and leadership is defined. \u201cThese are hostile to sustainable careers for anyone not shaped by the traditional male archetype of leadership,\u201d Frankland says.In the US, where there has been pressure to roll back diversity initiatives in major markets, things are even worse than the UK. \u201cThis has led global organizations to quietly deprioritise equity goals,\u201d says Frankland.It\u2019s resulting in equity programs getting shelved and progress regressing. \u201cAnd what happens in the US, echoes around the world,\u201d Frankland warns.Women still face widespread discrimination The experiences of women on the ground in cybersecurity tell a bleak tale of unconscious bias and sometimes, overt discrimination.Carole Reeves, director of security operations at ANS, describes how early in her career, she noticed that speaking up or raising concerns about behavior could be interpreted differently, depending on who was saying it. \u201cWhen women flag culture problems or inappropriate behaviour, they can sometimes be labelled as difficult, rather than constructive \u2013 even when the intention is to improve the workplace for everyone.\u201dTechnical environments are still largely male-dominated, and that can create pressure for women to establish credibility quickly. \u201cI often felt the need to do this to ensure my voice carried the same weight in the room,\u201d says Reeves.\u201cIt takes more than just knowledge and skills to survive here as a woman,\u201d adds Ali Mackenzie-Cooper, senior architect at Axiologik. \u201cWe have to be better than the men we work with and held to different standards and behaviors. The words \u2018assertive\u2019 and \u2018aggressive\u2019 get used differently for each gender. Women have to find a way to challenge while not appearing to undermine our male colleagues.\u201dThis leads to incidents where women report being talked over or dismissed in meetings. Others have stayed quiet while their own job role was explained to them by a male colleague. Mackenzie-Cooper describes a recent meeting in her work place when similar topics were discussed. \u201cIt was amazing to see how we’ve all had similar experiences and we shared some of our toolkits on how to deal with different scenarios.\u201dAs an out gay woman with dyslexia and ADHD, Mackenzie-Cooper has often had to challenge and push the public and society\u2019s views of what is acceptable. \u201cI’ve been discriminated against many times and we often pick the battles or lines we’ll push back on, but not all. It\u2019s sad we still need to do this.\u201dAna Vilhete is both a lawyer and recruitment agency owner. She\u2019s seen first-hand how women are intentionally kept out of senior leadership positions \u2013 even when they are qualified to occupy them. \u201cThe usual suspects? Old boys\u2019 networks. We see a lot of these in constructive unfair dismissal cases,\u201d she says.Sometimes, work environments are made so intolerable for women that they feel forced to leave. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about her ideas being rejected, but then advanced when presented and co-opted by a male colleague,\u201d Vilhete explains. \u201cBeing forced to over-explain their decisions, or worst of all being overworked because the team is aware she is eager to win them over after being isolated.\u201dOne in three by 2031Taking this into account, many say the prediction of one in three women in cybersecurity roles by 2031 is not going to happen.Ruth Wandhofer, Blackwired’s head of European markets tells ITPro this figure is \u201cunrealistic\u201d, even if significant measures are taken.The challenge is that cyber has a significant portion of unfilled jobs, but tends to reject women, who mainly come in through the education route, via degree. \u201cBut the industry prefers certifications, so it\u2019s not an issue with the STEM female pipeline,\u201d says Wandhofer.She warns that AI could make gender diversity even more challenging when hiring, too. The increasing use of AI in this process is likely to bring \u201ceven more problematic outcomes of filtering out the wrong candidates\u201d, Wandhofer points out.The biggest gender diversity gap is still in the more technical roles, according to says Kunjal Tanna, co-founder of cyber recruitment business, LT Harper. But interestingly, the number of jobs focused around governance, risk and compliance is decreasing considerably \u2013 and this is typically where women have been best represented in cybersecurity, she says. \u201cThis has massively contributed to the decline in the percentage representation of women in the industry.\u201dAs another year of International Women\u2019s Day arrives and passes, the cybersecurity industry knows there is still work to be done. \u201cSome of the great things we can do and are working on, is recognizing and promoting the great work women do,\u201d says Mackenzie-Cooper. \u201cFor example, coaching and mentoring in the workplace and going out to schools and colleges to meet women interested in the careers we do.\u201dAt the same time, firms should consider employees from diverse backgrounds and adjacent industries \u2013 as they will bring a fresh perspective to those who are \u201ctrained\u201d in cyber, says Tanna. \u201cBe proactive about where you look for talent. If you\u2019re only looking from competing organizations for people who have already been doing the same role, chances are you\u2019ll struggle to diversify your workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

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