Why the diversity numbers in cyber still aren’t moving

An editorial on the structural reasons cybersecurity hiring still mirrors a narrow demographic, and what mentorship programs can actually shift.

OSCI Editorial

Collaboratively written by mentors and contributors.

Every annual industry report opens with the same paragraph: cybersecurity has a diversity problem. Every annual industry report closes with the same suggestion: do more mentorship.

After two years building OSCI, we have opinions about which mentorship is shifting numbers and which mentorship is theater. This piece is the editorial we wish someone had written when we started.

Methodology

Opinion piece informed by program data from OSCI and three peer mentorship organizations. Not a research study; positions are clearly editorial.