See It Be It: Women and Girls in Cyber Conference

Women make up just 17.5 per cent of the UK’s cyber security workforce, with only 264 female students in Scotland taking a National Progression Award in Cyber Security in 2022/23, compared with 1,521 male students. At the same time, more than half of UK businesses report a cyber security skills gap, a shortfall the industry can ill afford.

Supported by Accenture, Fortinet and NatWest, the See It Be It: Women and Girls in Cyber Conference will bring together up to 200 pupils, teachers, cyber professionals and industry leaders for a day of talks, workshops and networking, designed to inspire more young women to pursue careers in cyber security.

By making female role models more visible and giving students hands-on opportunities – including a live cyber table-top exercise, a visit to NatWest’s Security Operations Centre, and a careers networking hub – the event aims to show girls across Scotland that cyber security is a career for them.

As part of the launch, Scottish high schools were invited to enter a competition for the chance to secure 10 student places at the conference.

The conference will include a series of panel discussions with leading female cyber security figures, a careers hub for school girls to explore what cyber careers look like and a series of interactive workshops to give hands-on cyber security experience.