International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the accomplishments and unique gifts of women around the world. And while women have gained a lot of ground over time, they are still severely underrepresented in the workplace – specifically when it comes to the technology sector – holding only 28% of the jobs in tech. But our next two guests are hoping to change that statistic. Lynn Dohm, Executive Director of Women in Cybersecurity and Scarlett Howery, Vice President of Public Workforce Solutions for DeVry University are joining us live from Chicago with more. For more information, visit www.devry.edu
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00:00 The following portion of the Arizona Daily Mix is sponsored on behalf of DeVry University
00:07 by KEF Media.
00:10 International Women's Day is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of women, unique gifts
00:15 around the world.
00:16 And while women have gained a lot of ground over time, they are still underrepresented
00:20 in the tech industry.
00:22 Last week I talked with Lynn Daum, Executive Director of Women in Cyberspace and Scarlett
00:26 Howrey, Vice President of Public Workforce Solutions for DeVry University.
00:30 We're hoping to change all that.
00:35 Good morning, Lynn and Scarlett.
00:36 How are you doing this morning?
00:37 We're great.
00:38 Great.
00:39 Good.
00:40 Hey, Lynn, let's talk a little bit about your organization and what you're doing to help
00:44 close the gap in tech.
00:47 Sure.
00:48 So Women in Cybersecurity, or the WSIS organization, we're a 501(c)(3) member-based nonprofit with
00:56 a mission to recruit, retain and advance women in cybersecurity.
01:00 But we exist because we're at a critical workforce shortage.
01:03 CyberSeek reports that there's over 570,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs right now.
01:10 And women represent roughly 24 to 26 percent of that.
01:14 So what we do is we create accessibility and opportunities for women to not only get into
01:19 cybersecurity but advance in their careers because of it.
01:23 And we also partner with higher ed institutions such as DeVry in order to help fill that gender
01:28 gap.
01:29 Wow, that's important right there.
01:31 And Scarlett, what's very important too is education needing to evolve to meet the needs
01:36 of today's workforce, right?
01:39 Absolutely.
01:41 Higher ed institutions need to create short cycles of learning.
01:45 And they should include industry-recognized credentials by understanding where the biggest
01:50 skills gap, working alongside industry and corporations to understand that.
01:55 We're able to incorporate that into our degree program so that learners gain the skills not
01:59 only that they want but that the industry demands.
02:03 It's why DeVry created the Women in Tech Scholars Program.
02:07 Our program creates resources and support for women so that they break into a career
02:12 in technology.
02:15 Not only do our programs include curriculum as well as DeVry's care formula, but we also
02:20 include in our scholars program our partnerships with women in cybersecurity and other corporate
02:26 partners to ensure learners gain the skills that they need to break into a career in tech
02:31 and stay in that field.
02:33 In addition, we work with partners like Women in Cybersecurity and our industry partners
02:38 to uncover where all of those gaps are so that learners, when they come out of a school,
02:44 they have all of the skills that they need in order to help industry to grow, thrive,
02:50 and continue to compete in a highly competitive market.
02:55 Scarlett said something very important, Lynn, and that's of course education.
02:58 So what should women expect on their path to a career in tech?
03:04 We believe in the value that women bring industry that require the digital talent.
03:09 But what we don't want is financial and personal hurdles to stand in the way.
03:14 And so to Scarlett's point is that it's super important to have these type of programming
03:20 efforts with all the wraparound services.
03:23 And those services include resources, accessibility, mentoring, funding, financial support, and
03:30 so much more.
03:32 And that's the point for women to launch into their career.
03:34 It's a starting point for them to get into tech or get into the lucrative cybersecurity
03:39 careers that are out there.
03:40 Wow.
03:41 All right.
03:42 So Scarlett, with that said, what programs are available to help prepare someone for,
03:46 of course, a career in tech and cybersecurity?
03:48 Yeah.
03:49 In addition to DeVry's Women in Tech Scholars Program, we also offer our Future Cyber Defender
03:55 Scholars Program, which brings in the curriculum from cybersecurity so that learners gain the
04:00 skills that they need in order to become a cybersecurity professional.
04:04 Wow.
04:05 All right.
04:06 Well, that's incredible for a lot of women to get into it.
04:07 And of course, those who are looking to for another career path, which is so incredible.
04:11 So where can people find more information?
04:13 Yeah.
04:14 If you want to find out more about DeVry's Women in Tech and Future Cyber Defender Scholars
04:19 Program, you can do so by going to devry.edu.
04:22 Love it.
04:23 Thank you two very much for joining us this morning.
04:27 Thank you.
04:28 Thank you.
04:31 The preceding portion of the Arizona Daily Mix was sponsored on behalf of DeVry University
04:36 by KEF Media.
04:37 Thank you.
04:38 Thank you.
04:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]