Abstract
Despite decades of literature investigating the cybersecurity industry’s skills and gender gap, women remain underrepresented in this field. Additionally, skill frameworks often emphasize technical skills while overlooking soft skills. This study aims to address these issues by exploring the careers of 18 successful European women in cybersecurity, defined by career advancement, contributions to the field, industry recognition, skill development, and work-life balance. The analysis of these leaders’ career journeys highlights the importance of soft skills and how they can enhance cybersecurity professionals’ careers. This study underscores the essential soft skills and competencies required in cybersecurity and the unique contributions women bring to the field. It concludes with recommendations for organizations, practitioners, and policymakers to foster a more inclusive environment that supports the professional development of women in cybersecurity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Computer Information Systems |
| Early online date | 23 Apr 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 23 Apr 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Keywords
- Cybersecurity
- European Cybersecurity Skills Framework
- gender gap
- skill gap
- soft skills