With nine tenths of the world's money transacted electronically, the need to protect and secure cyberspace only grows more urgent. As a
Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity,
Cal State San Bernardino's Cybersecurity Center leads the nation's community of 335 universities as part of that effort. Combined with its wide range of cyber-related degree programs, CSUSB prepares nearly double the national average for participation of women in the field, says Tony Coulson, Ph.D., executive director of the CSUSB Cybersecurity Center (CSC) and professor of information and decision sciences.
CSUSB is helping to prepare more women by offering several
degree programs that include cybersecurity in a variety of fields—including four different bachelor's degrees and five master's options. Programs include
information systems and technology with a cybersecurity concentration,
public administration with cyber,
business administration with cyber and
crime analysis with cyber.
One program that is extraordinarily popular among CSUSB's female students, Coulson says, is the
national cybersecurity studies graduate program, which focuses on the global intelligence environment and intelligence analytics. “A lot of people think cyber is one dimension, super technical. But there's a lot of intelligence work. There's a lot of policy work," Coulson explains.
The Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) chapter at CSUSB empowers students by creating a network of support for women seeking cyber careers.
The key to getting more women in cybersecurity and STEM, Coulson says, is creating a pipeline at the community level, to make it more natural for girls to think of these careers as options. CSUSB has partnered with the Girl Scouts to create what has become a trajectory-changing
cyber camp for at-risk girls in the Inland Empire. Since 2015, over 1,400 Girl Scouts have participated in GenCyber and over 300 CSUSB students have contributed over 4,600 volunteer hours to help make the program success. Coulson explains that their CSUSB-based program eventually led to the Girl Scouts taking part in a national cyber initiative, including cyber badges.
“If you give students the opportunity and the resources, they'll provide the passion and they will make this happen," Coulson says. “That's really been a hallmark of our philosophy and how we do things in the Cybersecurity Center."
While female representation is growing in the cybersecurity workforce, it still has a ways to go. A
2013 study estimated that women represented just 11 percent of the cyber workforce. However, a
2019 report from the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² found that women comprised 24% of the global cybersecurity workforce. Yet, a
2020 report found that women make up just 21% of the North American cyber workforce.
CSUSB's Cybersecurity Center continues to push the boundaries and possibilities of cyber education, especially for women.