Australian cybersecurity comapny Tesserent has announced today they are forming a strategic partnership with Queensland-based not-for-profit UNIQ YOU. The goal of this new partnership is to encourage more females to seriously consider careers in cybersecurity.
The Australian cyber sector currently employs 26,500 people, but it’s estimated that over 7,000 new jobs will need to be created by 2024 to support a growing industry. Encouraging diversity and more female talent in the industry is key to meeting demand and addressing gender imbalances. Tesserent has recently announced a new division – the Tesserent Academy, designed to address the skills shortfall in the sector.
UNIQ YOU is a ground-breaking new virtual platform showing Year 9-12 girls that a career in technology fields like cybersecurity is possible. As more girls see that this is a viable path, a more diverse pipeline of future cybersecurity professionals will open up.
“We are delighted to support the important work that UNIQ YOU is doing to significantly increase the exposure high school girls have to industries under-represented by women. Partnering together, we hope to encourage more female Gen Z high school students to seriously consider building a career in cyber. This program is an exciting initiative supported by the new Tesserent Academy.”
Ms Emmeline McIIIree, Chief People Officer, Tesserent.
UNIQ YOU tackles the pipeline problem by showing high school girls that they can pursue amazing careers in industries currently under-represented by women, focusing on STEM, technology, cybersecurity as well as mining, water, energy and gas, construction, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, defence and transport and logistics.
“Tesserent’s commitment to playing a role in the development of a future pipeline of female cybersecurity leaders and boosting participation in the sector is crucial to addressing gender imbalances. We are excited to work together to encourage and support thousands of young Australian women to undertake education and training pathways and start their careers in the important field of cybersecurity.
“Over the next year, UNIQ YOU aims to facilitate over 600 information-packed video calls between high school girls, their Career Officers and over 100 female advisors working in industries and roles currently under-represented by women. With comprehensive career advisory experience and unique industry opportunities, this service is dedicated to inspiring girls to come and be part of exciting jobs of the future, and contribute to our ever-changing technological world.”
Ms Tanya Messmmann, Chief Executive Officer, UNIQ YOU
Tesserent themselves realise this issue and disclosed in their 2020 Annual Report that just 18% of employees were female. Many companies across Australia are putting strategies and policies in place to establish a more balanced workforce. With IT and Engineering being traditionally dominating by males, it’s great to see work being done to address the imbalance.
Any of us who’ve been to a tech conference over the years will understand the high 90%+ of attendees were males. Thankfully this is changing and that change doesn’t happen passively, it comes as a result of a conscious effort, like that of this partnership, that invokes a response from females to consider a career in STEM.
NASSCOM reports that despite having the largest IT talent pool in the world, India simply lacks skilled cyber security professionals. In fact, the need for experienced professionals is so high that companies are willing to pay a premium salary of over Rs 1.5 to 4 crore to top talent.The average cybersecurity salary for this position falls between $90,000 and $160,000, and they are worth every penny. These security professionals help create, plan, and carry out security measures to keep your infrastructure secure.