Cybersecurity Increased Female Enrollment
National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS). Closing the Gender Gap for Women and Girls to STEM Education Programs
– What is IWITTS? –
The National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science teaches STEM Educators proven and researched techniques for increasing the number of female students in STEM education programs.
– Retention –
Retention of both female and male students in STEM education has been shown to increase up to 15%- 50%.
– What Educators are Saying About IWITTS:
“Because Computer Networking and Information Technology was not on the radar of many women, the tools that were given to us by IWITTS for reaching out to students for our entry level class were very effective. Thanks to our work with IWITTS, female enrollment in my department has risen from 19% to 33%.”
~ Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator, Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center
Learn more about IWITTS at:
http://www.iwitts.org
Rowan Cabarrus, a community college in North Carolina, saw female enrollment in Cybersecurity 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟴 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟯 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 after they implemented the Recruitment Plan they developed in the WomenTech Educator’s Bootcamp in June of 2020.
The Cybersecurity program had an increase in female and male enrollment of 16%. The college as a whole faced a 10% decrease in enrollment because of the pandemic.
The Cybersecurity program attributed its success to a Women in Cybersecurity Online Meet & Greet held with female role models who had graduated from the program. During the WomenTech Educators Training, schools learn how to put on a female-focused event for prospective students that will convert to actual enrollments the next semester.
I have presented extensively on recruiting women to Cybersecurity, including the CyberSmart Summit: North America’s Only Cybersecurity Skills & Workforce Development Summit in Canada in 2019. I was part of a small group selected to participate in the Women in Cybersecurity Roundtable. Sponsored by New America and the National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education (NICE) in 2018. In 2018 and 2020, I conducted webinars on Recruiting Women to Cybersecurity for National Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week for NICE.
In the first comment you can listen to a brown bag webinar I conducted on Recruiting Women to Cybersecurity.
#cybersecurity #educators #communitycollege #womenincybersecurity #cybersecuritytraining #cybersecuritytrainingforwomen #cybersecurityexperts #womenintechtraining #stemtrainingforwomen