One of my favorite binges of late is the Netflix series Halt and Catch Fire. It’s a story about the personal computer revolution of the 1980s. The lead character, Cameron Howe, is a brilliant, self-assured young woman who runs circles around her, mostly male, co-workers, with her mad coding skills.
I remember being influenced by a similar female lead. It was Jane Craig (played by Holly Hunter) in the movie Broadcast News. As the credits rolled, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. Likewise, Cameron Howe (played by Mackenzie Davis) possesses just the right mix of courage and intellect required to spark the tech fire in girls today.
STEM and beyond
What better way to close out our National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) series than to encourage the next generation of cybersecurity superheroes to grow their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills and consider a future in cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is a rewarding career, boasting an average salary of $96,000, and yet few women pursue the field. According to The U.S. Department of Labor, employment opportunities for Information Security Analysts will grow by 28% between 2016 and 2026. It’s also predicted that 3.5 million jobs in cybersecurity will remain unfilled by 2021.
Why focus on girls? Because while the numbers are improving, in the tech field or otherwise, in 2019, women are still paid 80 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn, and 93.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are men.
If your daughter shows a talent for tech, here are a few ways to nurture that passion.
Challenge stereotypes. Girls get steeped in pink from the moment they arrive in the delivery room. This “pinkification,” in general, experts argue, is one factor distracting ..
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