Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted
Paragraph: 117
Improve gender and ethnic diversity in cyber workforce through new schemes and support.
Recommendation
We are particularly concerned that, despite the shortage of cyber skills in the UK, there are stubborn and significant disparities in the cyber workforce based on gender and race and ethnicity. The Government should reflect on the significant disparities in gender and race/ethnicity in the cyber workforce and take steps to improve these divides, such as by introducing additional schemes and funding to widen the talent pool, improving the culture of and attitudes to the cyber profession both in education and work, and considering how to provide professional support for people during their career.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to address diversity in the cyber workforce, highlighting ongoing initiatives like funding the National Centre for Computing Education, DSIT's 'Upskill in Cyber' programme, and funding the UK Cyber Security Council to develop professional recognition processes.
Paragraph Reference:
117
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We agree with this conclusion. A core focus of the National Cyber Strategy is to increase diversity in the cyber workforce. based on race and ethnicity. Estimates from the annual survey of the UK labour market 12 Connected tech: smart or sinister?: Government and Information Commissioner’s Office Response show 22% of the cyber sector workforce are individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, which is higher than the UK workforce breakdown of 14%. This is promising, and work with disadvantaged and underrepresented groups will continue to increase this further. However, the gender diversity of the cyber workforce continues to be a concern. We know 17% of the cyber sector workforce is female, lower than the digital sector workforce (29%) and the UK workforce average (48%). To address this, we must inspire more young people at school to take up subjects such as computer science, where females made up only 21% of Computer Science GCSE and 15% of A level entries in 2023 respectively. The recently announced Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce, co-chaired by DSIT and the Department for Education, has brought together a range of industry and academic leaders to understand how we boost the number and diversity of individuals seeking a career in technology more broadly. A specific focus of this taskforce is gender diversity, and the group will produce a report with recommendations for intervention to the National Science and Technology Council in 2024. DSIT also supports the extracurricular CyberFirst programme of competitions, summer courses and bursaries, delivered by the National Cyber Security Centre. This widens the talent pool by supporting c15,000 young people per year and is in partnership with over 200 industry employers. CyberFirst includes the DSIT ‘Cyber Explorers’ platform targeted at 11–14 year olds, which has reached over 50,000 students across 2,000 schools as of July 2023. DSIT also funds the ‘Upskill in Cyber’ programme, which saw over 3,600 applications from individuals looking to retrain or upskill in cyber, for 200 spots this year alone. As well as inspiring and supporting individuals into a career in cyber, the Government is keen to make sure that individuals have a clear understanding of the pathways they can take to the top of their respective area. The UK Cyber Security Council, the professional body for the cyber workforce, is funded by DSIT to develop a clear process for individuals to be recognised professionally, for their expertise and experience in cyber security. This will give practitioners clarity on the knowledge, skill and experience they need to acquire over the course of their career. This structure will bring cyber security in line with more established professions, such as law and accounting. On top of this, the Department for access high-quality courses that meet the skills needs of employers.