Empowering women in STEM, especially given the current global technology skills shortage, is critical and particularly pertinent this International Women’s Day as this year’s theme is ‘choose to challenge’ . Encouraging young women to explore STEM subjects in school is a big step in the right direction in creating a more diverse cybersecurity sector.

As the speed of software development and delivery increases through automation, security must also become faster and more automated. Courses that teach secure coding and security by design will help elevate these skill sets and create more diversity of thinking within the cybersecurity industry.

While there are currently only five undergraduate computer science degrees certified by the UK’s NCSC for cybersecurity content, it is great to see the government is taking action with the launch of the UK Cyber Security Council.  Across every STEM industry, there is a need for training opportunities, accredited courses and qualifications, and the creation of this council in the UK will help close the gap for women in cybersecurity.