The importance of women’s equal involvement in cybersecurity and opportunities for career development in the jobs of the future is more relevant than ever.
Currently, women are not equally involved in creating a digital future. Globally girls account for only 35% of STEM students, and women represent only 20% of all tech workers. Women are also less involved in cybersecurity, where globally only 20% of them are employed in this area.
In Luxembourg, the female workforce’s distribution is still very concentrated towards specific sectors (e.g., health sectors and education), and overall, women represent only 38% of employees. Less than a quarter of employees in ICT are women. The inequality does not only exist in specific sectors, but also in managerial positions where women hold just 26%. While the overall gender pay gap in Luxembourg represents one of the lowest among the EU member states, in managerial positions, this gap reaches up to 29%.
Additionally, in Serbia, only 17% of women are in management positions in technology companies, and they receive 20% lower salaries than their male counterparts do. Gender imbalance is also evident in founding startups where only 3% of the owners are women.
In the 21st century, data is the new “oil” and connectivity is more important than ever, cybersecurity is essential for the ethical and sustainable development of modern society. Given the importance of cybersecurity for economic development, on the one hand, and the lack of skills in this profession on the other, it is crucial to empower women to be equally involved and meet the growing demand for today’s challenges in this field.
Women4Cyber Serbia and the Women4Cyber Luxembourg Chapters are established as part of the Women4Cyber Foundation launched by the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). In this joint event, we officially launch both organizations, to promote activities and position the importance of this topic at the national and international level by involving all relevant stakeholders from both countries: Government representatives, the private sector, institutions, organizations, and the general public.
Join us on the occasion of International Women’s Day, on the 8th of March, for a collaborative online event organized to celebrate the launch Women4Cyber Serbia and Women4Cyber Luxembourg Chapters and women.
Government representatives from Serbia and Luxembourg will open the event and gathered leaders will address the importance of women’s equal involvement in cybersecurity and opportunities for career development in future jobs.
In the coming months, these Women4Cyber chapters will be hosting a Hackathon for students from both countries. The Hackathon will be held in cooperation with the private sector, state, and universities to strengthen the equal involvement of future generations of young tech leaders in cybersecurity.
You can see the online event Program at the website (https://www.afa.co.rs/ and https://womencyberforce.lu/), and how you can apply and participate in this important topic.
We are also inviting all individuals and companies who would like to join and contribute to these and future Chapter’s activities to write to us at info@womencyberforce.lu; womenforcyberserbia@afa.co.rs.
How to join our event?
When: Mar 8, 2021 12:00 PM Belgrade, Bratislava, Ljubljana
Topic: Women4Cyber Serbia & Luxembourg
Please join using the below [Zoom] link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87058394740
You can add the event to your calendar using the below link:
Women4Cyber Luxembourg and Women4Cyber Serbia Chapters are members of the ESCO Women4Cyber Foundation https://women4cyber.eu/
