Women Leaders Discuss Career Paths and Inclusion in Cybersecurity

Summary

DarkOwl leaders Sarah Prime and Alison Halland discuss women’s representation, career paths and workplace experiences in cybersecurity, highlighting non-technical entry routes, persistent leadership gaps and the value of varied skills.

Key points

• The article cites an ISC2 2021 estimate that women made up 25% of the global cybersecurity workforce.
• The cited workforce study found that more than half of cybersecurity professionals began outside IT, with routes including career transitions, cybersecurity education and self-learning.
• Prime moved from educational publishing and software product development into cybersecurity; Halland transitioned from finance and consulting.
• The interviewees describe cybersecurity roles beyond technical specialties, including product, marketing, business, research, intelligence and data science.
• Prime said DarkOwl's workforce was 35–40% women and that the company aimed for gender equality; both interviewees also described persistent gender imbalances in executive settings.
• Their advice includes pursuing ongoing learning and developing communication, collaboration and critical-thinking skills; Prime named CEH and OSCP as certifications that had helped members of her team.

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