Ben Allen is a cybersecurity and financial forensics expert. He is the CEO at Allen Forensics Inc.
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The demand for cybersecurity will be significant in the next few years. Cybersecurity Ventures forecasts that approximately 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs will be available by 2025.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts these jobs to be some of the well-paid. Information security analysts, for example, could earn over $100,000 a year.
Currently, many factors drive the growth of the cybersecurity workforce. One of these is the looming increase of cyber threats. The other is a huge cybersecurity skills gap affecting minorities and immigrants.
The Gaping Hole In The Cybersecurity Workforce
One cannot underestimate the value of diversity and inclusion in the workforce, especially in the cybersecurity industry.
Diversity and inclusion are not just feel-good initiatives. They are essential for protecting a nation's critical infrastructure. A more diverse and inclusive workforce will help an organization better identify risks and vulnerabilities, learn from past mistakes and develop more effective security protocols.
And yet, minorities are grossly underrepresented in the industry. According to the Aspen Digital Tech Policy report, only 9% of cybersecurity experts are Black. About 8% are Asian and 4% are Hispanic.
What causes this massive disparity? The answer is complicated, but a few factors play a role:
1. Access To Education And Training
Many jobs in the field require specialized knowledge and skills students can obtain through higher education or expensive certifications. A CompTIA A+ certification, for instance, could already cost around $350.
Expensive education puts minorities at a disadvantage because they are more likely to come from low-income households.
Between 2019 and 2020, about 17% of Hispanics were considered poor compared to 8.2% of non-Hispanic whites. Blacks had the highest poverty rate at almost 20%.
Poverty severely limits not only the IT courses the students can take but, more importantly, their exposure to IT and computer science in general.
2. Lack Of Mentorship And Role Models
The lack of mentors and role models can also affect the way minorities perceive the industry and themselves.
Mentorship provides the necessary guidance, support and advice to help someone progress in their career. With minorities and immigrants, it can also be a way to build trust and confidence.
However, poor children are less likely to have financially successful mentors and role models within their families and communities. They also spend more time on the media, which can potentially show prejudice and bias toward certain demographics.
3. Systemic Racism
Systemic racism is another obstacle that minorities face in the tech industry. It manifests in a lot of ways—from hiring discrimination to lower pay and fewer opportunities for career advancement.
In 2020, white employees earned 44% more than their Black colleagues and 33% more than Hispanics. On average, Black individuals took home only $91,000 compared to $130,000 for white individuals.
How To Close The Gap In Cybersecurity Skills
The problem with the cybersecurity skills gap has been so complex and deeply ingrained in our society that solving it will not happen overnight. It also does not have any "one-size-fits-all" solution.
But small steps can lead to big differences. These ideas can potentially help close the gap in cybersecurity skills:
1. Create or expand funding for cybersecurity scholarships.
One way to make education and training more accessible is by providing financial assistance through scholarships and grants.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports schools with STEM programs by funding scholarships for talented low-income students. Microsoft awards up to $20,000 to Black students to encourage them to break into tech.
2. Encourage a diverse workforce.
Organizations can support diversity and inclusion in the workplace through intentional recruitment. They can also design programs that focus on the career advancement of minorities.
For example, they can create mentorship initiatives that connect Black and Hispanic employees with more experienced professionals. They can also offer financial assistance for certifications and training courses.
Furthermore, tech companies can improve employee retention. Google, for example, has already pledged to fill at least 30% of leadership positions with minorities by 2025.
3. Improve minority perception in the media.
The media is powerful enough that it can skew—or improve—people's perception of certain demographics, which could affect their hiring and retention in tech.
The media can help by featuring more minorities in positive roles, such as professionals in the tech industry. It can also break stereotypes by telling stories that focus on the successes of people of color.
Moreover, the media can launch TV programs and movies that showcase authentic and accurate depictions of minorities in the workplace.
4. Lobby for the underrepresented groups.
Lobbying can be effective in bringing attention to the struggles that underrepresented groups face in the tech industry.
Organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League (NUL), have been fighting for equal rights since their inception. These groups can continue to put pressure on the government and private organizations to improve diversity in tech.
5. Decrease language barriers.
Language can be a barrier to entry for many minorities who want to get into tech. This is especially true for those who come from immigrant families or whose first language is not English.
Organizations can provide educational resources in different languages to make it easier for non-English speakers to enter the field. They can also invest in translation services and hire bilingual staff members. Schools can also do their part by teaching tech-related concepts in different languages.
6. Advocate for inclusive policies.
Organizations can battle racism in the tech workplace and start closing the cybersecurity skills gap by shifting the way it thinks about diversity and inclusion.
It is important to move away from the idea that these are simply "nice to haves" and start treating them as essential parts of doing business. But this can only happen if companies advocate for more inclusive policies such as equal pay for equal work, anti-discrimination measures and supporting initiatives that aim to increase diversity in tech.
