The Perceived Impact of Barriers to Retention on Women in Cybersecurity

This session presents the results from my dissertation research on retention of women in the cybersecurity industry.  The cybersecurity industry has a gender gap, with women making up only 10-15% of the United States cybersecurity workforce while making up about 50% of the general workforce.  One of the reasons for the disparity is the low retention rate of women in the industry.  Results presented will help women entering the industry (as well as companies that are hiring women into cybersecurity) be aware of what factors can impact their desire to stay in cybersecurity and how to recognize and manage those factors.

Speaker Bio:  Dr. Willis-Ford is a Senior Principal - Solution Architect for General Dynamics Information Technology. He is an ex-Navy Nuclear Reactor Operator on fast attack submarines. Since leaving the Navy, he has 30 years in project management, security policy & training, technical architecture, and data security. He is involved in numerous activities regarding training and awareness programs and cyber workforce development:

• Advisory Board Member for the National Cybersecurity Students Association

• Technical Working Group, NIST-sponsored Federal Information Systems Security Educators Association

• Working Group, National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE)

• Regular guest lecturer for NASA’s Security Awareness Program

• Planning committee for the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE)

• Planning committee for the Community College Cyber Summit (3CS)

Dr. Willis-Ford holds a B.S. in Computer Science, an M.S. in Network Security, an M.S. in Technology Management, and a Doctor of Information Assurance.  He is a Senior Member of the Information Systems Security Association.

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