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There is an incredible demand for professionals in the cybersecurity field, and it has been estimated that there are more than one million vacant cybersecurity jobs around the globe. This global shortage of professionals, including both men and women, demonstrates there is a pipeline shortage. Currently, women in cybersecurity represent a minor percentage of the global cybersecurity workforce. The percentage indicates that the security field needs new approaches to reach out to the female talent pool. CybHER™ is one such effort working towards increasing the percentage of women in cybersecurity.

CybHER™ at Dakota State University is an innovative program that aims to empower, motivate, educate, and change the perception of girls and women in cybersecurity.

To get more women into cybersecurity, the industry needs to look backwards a decade and start with middle school girls. Since 2013, CybHER has hosted more than 100 events and impacted almost 15000 girls! This work has had a direct impact on women enrolling in the Beacom College of Computer and Cyber Sciences at Dakota State University. From fall 2013 to fall 2018, there has been a 300 percent increase in women enrolled in the Beacom College programs (computer science, cyber operations and network and security administration) at DSU and a 45 percent increase from fall 2017 to fall 2018 alone.

A Transformational Leader

Ashley Podhradsky is the co-founder of CybHER and Associate Dean of the Beacom College of Computer and Cyber Sciences at DSU. Her primary responsibility at CybHER is to provide strategic vision and fundraising efforts to position CybHER to impact as many girls as possible.

Ashley said, “We have a lot of challenging problems to solve in cybersecurity and we need the brightest minds to do that, which includes women and men. Co-founding CybHER with my friend Dr. Pam Rowland has been a professional highlight.” CybHER introduces middle-school girls to the field of cybersecurity and shows them through hands-on exercises what the field is and how they can contribute.

Turning Things Into Action

CybHER has two guiding principles; first, be positive about the field and how girls can contribute and second, show them what cyber is, don’t lecture. Middle school girls are working to figure out who they are and trying to fit in. According to Ashley, we don’t go to an event and tell them you will only be 15% of the field, instead, we show them what cybersecurity is through role models and teach them about the field with hands-on activities. Citing an example, she says, “A lecture on password authentication can be a little boring to a 14-year-old girl but showing her how easy it is to crack a password is impactful. We will have the girls crack the word “password,” and they see it only takes a fraction of a millisecond to do it. We then ask them to create a stronger password, get the hash, then crack that. They can see that by adding alpha-numeric and special characters it takes longer to crack, and they start to understand what makes a good password and how to protect their accounts.”

The Balancing Act of a Successful Leader

On her journey towards a successful leader, Ashley believes she can confidently say that her internal validations are far more important than other people’s opinions or perceptions. She has her priorities; her family, career, friends, and positively impacting society. Ashley knows she can’t have it all 100% of the time and learning that has brought needed balance to her life. She says, “My husband Nick and I have two little kids and I want to be both a great mom and wife while also excelling professionally. Sometimes the time demand is skewed, but I always strive for the balance.”

True Leaders Put the Needs of Others Before Their Own

Ashley feels one of the biggest challenges for many leaders is to be genuinely more interested in someone else’s success than their own. Great leaders in any industry realize that in order to be a great leader you will need to give more than you get. Many times, people intentionally derail a high performer because they feel threatened and insecure. A true leader will not hold them back, in fact, they will remove any roadblocks so that the individual can achieve greatness. To do this, leaders must learn to be humble, patient, and emotionally steady.

Winning Over Challenges

Imposter syndrome was an early challenge for Ashley. She says, "Being the only woman in a class or in a room made me feel like I didn’t fit in sometimes. Admittedly, there were times that got the better of me, but I realize now, that everyone has something to contribute to cybersecurity and we need our individual and collective voices to help our community succeed."

Advice that makes a Perfect Leader

On advising to emerging leaders, Ashley emphasises not to worry about being perfect. “Perfect doesn’t exist, and perfect doesn’t help you learn. Be authentic, ask questions and don’t be afraid to fail, you might learn something from it,” she asserts.