ESET Australia has announced it is joining ESET’s global Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship program. ESET Australia will be awarding $5,000 to a woman currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate program majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field.
ESET Australia Country Manager Kelly Johnson says the company is thrilled to be launching the scholarship. “Although the number of women entering the technology sector continues to increase, they remain under-represented, and particularly in the cybersecurity space it is difficult for companies attempting to foster greater diversity in their workforce to find women to fill roles. We’ve struggled with this ourselves and with the ESET Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship, we hope to break down some barriers of entry in order to support the next generation of female cybersecurity experts.”
Submissions will be accepted from March 9, 2022 – May 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be announced on Monday July 4, 2022. Those ineligible to apply are encouraged to share this opportunity with friends and family.
An (ISC)2 Women in Cybersecurity Survey conducted across three continents found that men outnumber women three to one in the field of cybersecurity, underscoring the importance of supporting women in their pursuit of a degree in STEM. The report noted that “the more women who succeed in cybersecurity, the more likely they are to attract other women into the field. This would fill an acute need since the cybersecurity skills shortage has reached nearly 3 million worldwide”. In Australia, the latest data from the Bureau of Statistics showed that women comprise only 13% of the STEM-qualified workforce.
“Throughout my career in IT, I’ve seen how difficult it can be for women to break into this industry which is traditionally male dominated. It is getting better, and we hope that this scholarship will inspire women to be passionate about a career in cybersecurity and apply for it this year,” says Johnson.
