Gender diversity in cybersecurity is slowly improving but inequities continue—a new report finds that the field has 5% more women than in 2023, but that they’re more exposed to other workplace challenges than male counterparts. About 32% of women respondents said their organizations experienced security layoffs over the last year compared to just 23% of male respondents.
For Women’s History Month this March, ISC2 delved deeper into data collected for its 2024 Cybersecurity Workforce Study. The certification and training organization surveyed 15,852 individuals responsible for cybersecurity at workplaces worldwide, of which 14% were women. In 2024, women accounted for 22% of global security teams on average, compared to 17% in 2023, with the U.S. slightly below average on representation at 19.2%.
But 16% of respondents said their company’s security team contains no women at all, and only 5% claim to have an even split of men and women. Women employed in cybersecurity roles do tend to hold seniority, as 55% of female respondents said they are in managerial or higher positions and 53% are able to make hiring decisions. Only 7% are in C-Suite positions like CTO and CISO, but there are fewer of these roles available.
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Women disproportionately exposed to workplace challenges
The report found that 67% of women in cybersecurity are satisfied with their job, compared to 66% of men. While this figure is high for both sexes, it marks an ongoing declining trend. In 2022, 82% of women and 73% of men reported job satisfaction, and 76% and 70% respectively in 2023. The analysts put this trend down to growing “economic and workload pressures.”
There are well-documented talent shortages in the industry leading to overworked staff, but the ISC2 data suggests that women are being more exposed to other workplace challenges than their male counterparts. In addition to the disparity between women and men who experienced security layoffs over the last year, 40% of women respondents experienced cybersecurity budget cuts and 42% experienced hiring freezes, compared to 36% and 37% of men, respectively. Only 31% of men in cybersecurity noted that their teams had frozen promotions and pay rises compared to 36% of women.
“The data shows that the organizations where female participants work have experienced cybersecurity cutbacks at higher rates than male participants,” ISC2 analysts said.
