Parents can play an influential role in their children’s choice of careers but when it comes to cybersecurity, most parents have no advice to give. That’s because they really don’t know much, if anything, about the subject.
A survey by cybersecurity training provider SANS Institute revealed that 63% of parents in the U.K. can’t answer questions about how to find a job in the cybersecurity field. Almost as many parents (61%) said they have little or no knowledge of any career opportunities in the industry, even though 91% said they have heard of cybersecurity.
And despite the high earning potential of cybersecurity careers, 72% of parents said they’ve never considered a career in the field for their children. This lack of knowledge among parents is troubling considering the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region currently has a 142,000 shortage of cybersecurity workers, based on (ISC)² research. If children aren’t receiving advice to consider a cybersecurity career, this lowers the prospect of closing the gap any time soon.
“These findings should be seen as a wakeup call to the cybersecurity industry that it needs to do more to promote itself,” said James Lyne, CTO, SANS Institute. “The only people who can really spread that message are those working in the industry already – it’s another way to help close the skills gap we are currently suffering.”
Cyber Misconceptions
While parental knowledge of cyber careers is seriously lacking, there seems to be more awareness of IT careers. More than a quarter of survey participants (27%) said IT is one of the top five career choices for their eldest child, an indication that parents understand the car ..
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