June 1, 2021 | AFCEA, INDOPACOM
Perhaps one of the most interesting panels for a Women-Owned Small business like ourselves, was the Women’s Panel: Senior Leaders Address Cybersecurity Workforce Issues that took place on March 3, 2021. The panel featured Linda Newton (Former US Pacific Fleet Chief Information Officer and SES, Vice President, AFCEA Hawaii), BG Jacqueline “Denise” Brown (Director, J6, USINOPACOM), Dr. Inez Miyamoto (Professor, Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies), Jenna Seidel (SES, NSA/CSS Rep to USINDOPACOM), and Su Shin (President and General Manager, Hawaiian Telecom). The discussion revolved around two main questions: How do we make training more effective for the cyber workforce and how is your organization working on recruiting women?
Effective training in a cyber workforce is extremely important. The panelists emphasized the need to make it engaging and relevant, with user training that shows how it impacts them. It is also important to make the training hands-on, such as with game-based training. Overall, it needs to be usable and practical to keep every organization as secure as possible.
Recruiting women into different organizations is important in promoting a diverse workforce and bridging the gender gap. To do so, the panelists’ organizations tackle recruiting women in several different ways. As women, they encourage the transfer of information with other women. Some organization, like the NSA, are reaching out to K-12 to start building the curiosity and connections. This can lead to High school work-study programs and college internships that lead to Cybersecurity careers. In addition, they also target women that are looking to change careers and help support them in the transition, training, and certification processes.
All this outreach and support helps bring in women to the ever-expanding Cybersecurity field. To learn more about the resources AFCEA offers to help women advance their careers, check out Women in AFCEA at https://www.afcea.org/site/WomenInAFCEA for more information.
Sources:
1. AFCEA’s TechNet Indo-Pacific Conference March 3, 2021