Cybersecurity has a gender gap perception problem, ISC2 says
Cybersecurity has a gender gap perception problem, ISC2 says
https://www.hrdive.com/news/cybersecurity-gender-gap-perception-men-women/814355/
Publish Date: 2026-03-11 10:17:00
Source Domain: www.hrdive.com
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Dive Brief:
- In the cybersecurity workforce, 45% of women said that work-life balance and caregiving demands were the main barriers preventing women from staying and advancing in their field, while only 29% of men said they perceived as much happening to women, according to a new global study from ISC2, an international nonprofit cybersecurity association.
- Regarding perception around women’s wages, 34% of women participants said pay or promotion inequity had prevented them from moving forward, compared to just 19% of men who said they shared that perspective, per the survey.
- In addition, 42% of men participants said that they were “unaware of any challenges or had not observed any significant barriers for women,” which the survey noted was 2.5 times higher than the 17% of women participants who said the same.
Dive Insight:
The ISC2 research was published to coincide with Women’s History Month and explored trends shaping women’s experiences in the field of cybersecurity. Out of this year’s 16,029 global online respondents, 16% were women, per the report.
Meanwhile, a 2024 report from The Female Quotient and Deloitte Global found that women represent only 25% of the cybersecurity workforce despite ongoing growth in the profession and a heightened need for cybersecurity talent.
Participants in ISC2’s survey were asked to estimate the percentage of women cybersecurity professionals working in their organization. Participant estimates reflected perception rather than actual representation, which can influence perspective on inclusion issues, per the report.
“Just over a fifth (21%) of participants perceive their cybersecurity teams as having only 10% women or fewer,” the…
