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The Office of the Communications Commissioner has correctly identified the absence of women in the profession. One might, reasonably, ask the question: "Why is this considered a problem?". I would not call it a problem but rather a gap that could potentially create a problem. The reason is that now, as is also recognised internationally, women and men, because of stereotypes, acquire certain experiences and skills that are not being exploited.
At the same time, we have also identified that where women have broken stereotypes and entered the so-called 'male-dominated' professions, they have to deal with sexist attitudes or discrimination on the basis of their gender. All sectors without exception affect women and men differently and have a different impact.
We usually discuss women's participation since all statistics, literature and experience show that it is women who are not equally represented in public life even though they make up 50% of the population. Eurostat ranks Cyprus 3rd out of the 27 member states of the European Union in terms of higher education by gender with 67% women graduating and 51% men. Making the connection between this rate and employment we see that women disappear, as if by magic, from the workforce or end up working part-time.
I talk to women on a daily basis and their main request is the creation of structures such as crèches, facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities, since stereotypes and prejudices continue to want women as the main caregivers of all the above groups.
I talk to women on a daily basis and their main request is for the creation of structures such as crèches, facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities, since stereotypes and prejudices continue to want women as the main caregivers of all the above groups. As a result, women are employed on a part-time basis, especially after the birth of a child, to enable them to reconcile their family and professional lives. The result of this is their low income or stagnation, i.e. their lack of professional advancement.
Through the Recovery and Resilience Plan a number of such structures are expected to be created. At the same time, however, we must be honest. The structures will indeed support and enhance the reconciliation of work and family life or even support women to enter full-time employment. But if we do not work towards breaking down stereotypes and promoting a culture of equality, the structures will support the reconciliation of women's working lives, but more importantly, they will extend their working hours.
Unless we break down stereotypes and change our narrative of reconciling parents' work and family lives to embed a culture of equality, then women will continue in the invisible work of the home and the care economy perpetuating stereotypes. I believe that the balanced participation of women and men in every sector, from the governance of the country to the kitchen in our homes, is both necessary and essential for progress and prosperity in every aspect of our lives.
So as much as women's participation in decision-making centres is essential, so too is men's participation in the division of labour in the home and in raising children. Having said that, I want to stress that this is not a competition between women and men, but about leveraging skills and experiences in all areas of life.
In the cybersecurity sector, according to the Cybersecurity Venture Report 2022, women represent only 25% of jobs worldwide.
I don't know the numbers specific to Cyprus but I suspect we are moving at even lower or similar levels since, judging by STEAM occupations, women are far fewer than men. In particular, the European Institute for Gender Equality reports that in STEAM sectors the participation of women is only 4 % and of men 27 %.
European Union data and statistics show that jobs in STEAM sectors and especially in technology-related occupations will increase by 8 %. This increase is much higher than the average need for all other occupations in the future. We hear it all the time, after all, that technology-related occupations are the future of work. The worrying thing about this promising outlook is that these professions attract far more boys than girls. The reasons are not the genetic predisposition of men but the stereotypes and traditional anachronistic perceptions that prevent girls from choosing them.
As things stand, we see inequality being perpetuated and, as a result, the development of technology is expected to disproportionately benefit men compared to women. This means that we are designing a technological future that is all about men. And a cybersecurity future for men.
When we design policies, make decisions and take actions
-including in the area of cybersecurity-we should bear in mind that there is a differential impact on both genders. At the same time, the contribution of women in these male-dominated professions is not recognised. How many of us know that during the Second World War women worked as a human computer, calculating ballistics by hand so that the army could determine firing angles? Or that at the same time the Bletchley Park code-breaking operation consisted of nearly 10,000 people with 75% being women. Yet these women were never formally recognised as analysts like their male counterparts. They were even asked to describe their jobs as secretaries. The examples are many and the message is the same: women, like men, should be recognised. We need to know their story too and have women as role models as well as men. After all, you cannot be what you cannot see."
Gender balance in the cybersecurity sector, as in all areas of life, strengthens and enriches the sector, contributing to growth, quality, efficiency and, above all, to the impact of services throughout society. The participation of women is therefore essential. Cybersecurity plays a central role in protecting information, devices and, of course, users. Issues to be considered in cybersecurity include malware, phishing attacks and compromised personal or public information, abusive comments, online harassment and abuse, pornography, sexual blackmail and digitally enabled human trafficking.
In practice, we need government and corporate cybersecurity policies, awareness-raising and digital literacy programmes, but we also need targeted cybersecurity policies and programmes to promote digital literacy. So the question of "who" has designed cyber protection and cyber security is critical.
Technology users differ in their identities and needs, which means that gender must be at the heart of cyber security design and delivery. This can only be achieved through the equal presence of women in the sector.
As I mentioned earlier, gender equality is among the Government's priorities. In this context, the Office of the Equality Commissioner has completed the new National Gender Equality Strategy 2024 - 2026. The Strategy, for the first time, uses the tool of gender mainstreaming horizontally in the Government's policies, from foreign policy to education, research and innovation, i.e. following a holistic rather than a piecemeal approach.
In this direction and in relation to the issue under discussion and the examples I have given, we are proceeding with a series of specific actions taking a holistic approach to the issue. In particular, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, we are proceeding with the training of professional counsellors on issues relating to gender equality, in an effort to deconstruct stereotypical perceptions and orientate our children professionally on the basis of their abilities and not on the basis of their gender. One of the first acts of the President of the Republic, following an initiative of the Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality and in cooperation with the Cyprus State Scholarship Institute, was the establishment of ten scholarships, following a decision of the Council of Ministers, for women over 30 who did not have the opportunity to study. For this year the scholarships will be awarded in the fields of technology. The Institute has already proceeded with the application process.
At the same time, in cooperation with the State Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth and the Press and Information Office, we proceeded with a campaign entitled "Women's Stories". The first campaign is about female role models in the STEAM professions. From October to date, the videos have been shown on the Office's Social Media and Media outlets. At the same time, at the initiative of the Office of the Communications Commissioner and in cooperation with our Office, we are running a social media campaign to attract more women into the cybersecurity professions.
In this context, we started working with the Communications Commissioner to achieve our common goal: More girls and women in cybersecurity professions, after having been given a free choice for their career orientation, away from stereotypes and prejudices.
(OP/EAθ)
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