The Center for Cyber Safety and EducationTM has announced the 2016 recipients of its Women’s Cybersecurity Scholarships. The scholarships, totaling US$40,000 in awards, will be provided to seven women from around the world in various levels of study to help them advance their cybersecurity careers. The Center is the nonprofit charitable foundation formed by (ISC)² in 2011 to empower students, parents, teachers and the general public, across all age groups and demographics, to secure their online lives with cybersecurity education and awareness programs.
According to the 2015 (ISC)² Global Information Security Workforce Study, women represent only 10 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. There is a talent gap facing the industry in general, with a shortage estimated at 1.5 million professionals by the year 2020. Increasing the number of women in the field by supporting those who are enrolled in formal education programs is one way that (ISC)² and the Center can help to fill that gap.
The Center teamed up with Raytheon, a technology company specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions, to award two of the scholarships to Nicole Krantz and Catherine McLean. Each recipient will receive US$10,000 to support their cybersecurity education. Krantz is beginning the cybersecurity engineering program at George Mason University later this year. McLean is a junior at Northeastern University and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science cyber operations. She participates in the university’s co-op program and is currently working as an intern at Raytheon.
“I am so honored to accept the 2016 Raytheon’s Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship,” said Krantz. “It is such a wonderful opportunity that will open doors for me in the future. I could not attend George Mason University without it.”
“I'm incredibly honored to be awarded Raytheon's Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship,” said McLean. “This scholarship will enable me to continue pursuing my passion for security, through both classes and my internship at Raytheon COI, and I am excited to fully explore a career in this field.”
Scholarships were also awarded to graduate students Anna Truss of Excelsior College, Saleema Adejumo of the University of Leicester, Keirsten Williams of the University of Maryland, Shivani Singhal of Carnegie Mellon Univeristy and Jingxuan Wang, who is pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Hong Kong."With this partnership, the Center for Cyber Safety and Education and Raytheon are actively supporting women who are focused on information security and giving them the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience," said Patrick Craven, director, Center for Cyber Safety and Education.
For more information on the Center’s scholarships, please visit https://www.isc2cares.org/Scholarships/.