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Millennials Show New Interest in Security Careers

Gender gaps Millennials Show New Interest in Security Careers A Raytheon-NCSA survey of young adults in 12 countries shows significant interest in cyber-security careers and preparedness. The results varied by gender. Growing Awareness The number of young adults in the U.S. who have read or heard a news account of cyber-attacks within the last year […]

Written By

Gina Roos

Oct 26, 2016

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Gender gaps

Millennials Show New Interest in Security Careers

A Raytheon-NCSA survey of young adults in 12 countries shows significant interest in cyber-security careers and preparedness. The results varied by gender.

Growing Awareness

The number of young adults in the U.S. who have read or heard a news account of cyber-attacks within the last year jumped from 36% in 2015 to 64% in 2016. Globally, the percentage rose from 33% to 48%.

Candidate Viewpoints

53% of young adults in the U.S. said a political candidate’s position on cyber-security affects their level of support for that candidate.

Cyber-Security Discussion in the Election

50% of young adults in the U.S. don’t think cyber-security has been a big enough part of the discussion leading up to the presidential election.

Understanding Cyber-Security

Globally, the number of millennials who said they were aware of what a cyber pro’s job entails rose from 39% in 2015 to 45% in 2016.

Gender Gap

The gender gap widened. While 54% of young men understood the cyber-security profession (up from 45% in 2015), only 36% of young women did (up from 33% in 2015).

Cyber Competitions

More than a third (36%) of respondents were aware of cyber competitions at their schools. Yet, while 42% of men were aware of the contests, only 29% of women were.

Incentive Programs

70% of millennials in the U.S. said cyber-security programs or activities are available to them, up from 57% in 2015. Globally, the percentage rose from 54% to 68%.

Lack of Opportunities

Women (38%) are more likely to believe than men (25%) that they have no cyber activities available to them. Together, 33% of millennials in the U.S. have sought out cyber-security activities, compared with 45% globally.

Choosing Cyber-Security Careers

43% of men and 30% of women said they were more likely to choose a cyber-security career, compared with 33% of men and 24% of women a year ago.

What Sparks Millennials’ Interest in Cyber-Security Careers?

48% of millennials said more information about what the jobs might entail would increase their interest in cyber-security careers, followed by more relevant training to see if they would be good at it (44%), speaking with current professionals (37%) and reassurance that they would earn a good living (34%).

Cyber Safety Lessons

Globally, 59% of men, up from 43% in 2015, reported receiving formal cyber safety lessons in 2016, compared to 51% of women, up from 40% a year ago.

Types of Skills

Millennials want jobs applying skills cyber professionals use: 56% said they were interested in problem-solving, followed by data analysis (42%), programming (28%), management (49%) and communications (54%).

Millennials Show New Interest in Security Careers

Gina Roos

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