Visibility, Control, and Security for a Mobilized Workforce

A series of workshops provide girls and Women (sometimes boys) with the information and skills necessary to navigate the professional pipeline in the vast fields of CyberSecurity and Information Assurance, as well as, other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The Annual Careers in CyberSecurity for Girls Workshop presents a cyber crime scenario,Digital security and the elite all girl CSI teams use a variety of clues to solve it, while also learning about the plethora of career options in CyberSecurity from women in business and government throughout the country.

Despite the gains of the last twenty years in the representation of women in STEM fields, their numbers still lag behind their male counterparts. Researchers have found that until third grade an equal number of boys and girls show interest and feel confident in learning science and technology. However, these numbers continuously decrease for girls throughout middle school and into high school. Various explanations for the significant decrease in girls interest in science and technology through their school years have been posed. Cool Careers in CyberSecurity Workshops sponsored by CyberWatch draws on research that indicates recruiting and retaining girls to the science and technology fields should include targeted programs to educate women and minorities about STEM career choices. Many women and minorities have had limited exposure to computing in grade school and high school, especially if they come from lower-income households and communities. Curricula should provide early exposure to real-world examples of the content of interest connected to careers. Enrichment programs should emphasize team projects and diverse real-world examples of technology applied in content areas. Curricular material that addresses major societal and/or environmental problems has been shown to attract women to the discipline. Mentoring and role models in the career choices has also shown success in recruitment and retention.

To keep our girls secure in the tech world we have taken this initiative countrywide.

Women in Digital 23 Division continues to offer small workshops for individual schools/school districts, but has also expanded to offer an Annual Digital Security and Cyber Security Workshop for Girls Workshop. At the Workshop, a Digital Security and Cyber Crime Scenario is presented to the girls. The attendees are broken up into small CSI teams of 10 and rotate around different to gather clues to solve the cyber crime. Each table has a different activity led by a women professional in the field. The girls use the first part of each rotation to gather a clue, and the remainder of the time is used to learn more about how they can be safe in the cyber world and how they can use digital devices safely . Girls find out more about the education skills needed, likes and dislikes and many more. Activities have included: cryptography, assembling a computer, steganography, penetration testing and cell phone forensic, Devices such as a smartcard-based USB token, the SIM card in your cell phone, the secure chip in your contactless payment card or an ePassport are digital security devices because they give you the freedom to communicate, travel, shop and work using your digital identity in a way that is convenient, enjoyable.