The gender gap in the IT industry has been a matter of great concern for several years. Women in Tech ZA reports that only 23% of ICT roles in South Africa are occupied by women. When considering the highly specialized realm of cybersecurity, it can be assumed that this percentage is even lower.
Chantel Hamman, a Channel Account Manager at Trend Micro, started her IT career almost 20 years ago. At the time, she noticed the industry was predominantly male, with very few women in technical or executive roles. “It’s my first experience working for a company with a female CEO,” Hamman notes. “In fact, as I reflect on my time at Trend Micro so far, I realize I regularly engage with numerous women in senior management positions.”
While achieving greater diversity in executive roles is crucial in the IT and cybersecurity industry, there is also a need for women to pursue technical roles. A diverse workforce brings a wealth of different ideas, opinions, and innovations, which is increasingly vital in technology, where biases persist, especially in artificial intelligence and facial recognition software.
“In recent years, we’ve seen several women join our ranks through the Certification Program for IT Security,” Brijlal reports. “While we can’t claim to have completely closed the skills gap between men and women in cybersecurity, I do believe it’s narrowing.”
South Africa South Africa Latest News, South Africa South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ITNewsAfrica - 🏆 27. / 59 Read more »
Source: ITNewsAfrica - 🏆 27. / 59 Read more »