Following on from the recent ISC2 Women in Cybersecurity Study, additional research has highlighted changes in gender balance and the need for more opportunities for women to pursue cybersecurity careers.

A research report from LinkedIn has highlighted that in May 2024, women made up just 17.9% of the industry, while men accounted for 82.1%, based on data pulled from its professional social networking platform. While this is a modest improvement on the previous year’s data, when the percentage of women stood at 17.5%, it’s illustrative of the considerable work that must continue to make meaningful and lasting progress in bringing more women into the cybersecurity profession and retaining them.

The findings are comparable with those of the ISC2 report, which estimated the percentage of women in the industry is likely in the range of 20% to 25%. Furthermore, the ISC2 data estimates that the largest cohorts of women working in cybersecurity, based on survey participants, are those under 30 (26%) and those aged 30-34 (25%). As the age range increases, so the percentage of women vs men decreases.

Women Working in Cybersecurity

The LinkedIn data suggests that Italy has the highest share of women cybersecurity professionals at 26.7% of the active workforce. This was followed by Singapore (26.2%) and Canada (21.2%). At the other end of the scale for the countries examined, Germany had the lowest percentage of women with 14.6%. The U.S. was reported to have 18.3% women in its cybersecurity workforce, closely followed by the U.K. on 17.9%

However, the year-on-year data from LinkedIn shows growth for women in the profession across all 14 countries covered by the study, with Brazil increasing 4.45%, Poland up 3.55% and Germany up 3.11%. The U.K. has seen the percentage of women in its cybersecurity workforce increase 2.34% while the U.S. grew 1.22%. Only Singapore (0.08%) and Mexico (0.4%) registered growth below 1%.

Salary Disparity

The average global salary of women participants in the ISC2 study was $109,609 compared to $115,003 for the men who participated, a difference of $5,400. The average salary for U.S. women participants was $141,066 compared to $148,035 for men, a difference of nearly $7,000. The pay disparities grow for U.S. participants of color. The average salary of men of color respondents was $143,610, while the average for women of color respondents was $135,630 – a difference of nearly $8,000. ISC2 does not have an adequate sample yet to compare the salaries of women and men outside of the U.S.

Bolstering STEM Interest to Improve Gender Balance in Cybersecurity

Statistics from management consultancy McKinsey suggest that the percentage of women taking STEM classes is falling as they progress through education. Women are dropping out between the later stages of school education and starting university, when 18% of women drop STEM subjects. A further 15% of women leave STEM fields between completing university and joining the post-degree workforce.

The McKinsey findings are supported by a recent Gallup poll, which found that Generation Z interest among women in engineering, mathematics and computing is lagging men’s interest and that women are exposed to fewer STEM topics in school. Only 14% of women respondents to the ISC2 study pursued cybersecurity in school, but exposing women to cybersecurity programs early on can help create a stronger pipeline of candidates.

The full ISC2 Women in Cybersecurity Study contains additional insights into the gender composition of the cybersecurity profession, motivations for pursuing a cybersecurity role and more.