Investing in diverse futures: Bothell students and faculty find community at the 2024 Women in Cybersecurity conference 

The STEM field has seen remarkable growth over the past decade, with the workforce expanding by 20%, as reported by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). Despite this surge, women continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly in cybersecurity, where they make up only a quarter of the workforce — a 13% increase from 2014.   

Enter the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) organization. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Ambareen Siraj of Tennessee Tech University, WiCyS aims to recruit, retain, and advance women in cybersecurity, providing a platform for networking, mentorship, and professional development. As a leader in cybersecurity research and education, the University of Washington Bothell School of STEM Division of Computing & Software Systems (CSS) sponsored three students and one faculty member to attend the 2024 WiCyS conference in Nashville, Tennessee.  

Forging new paths  

Among the attendees was Anne Ha, a former medical resident and UW Bothell alumna of the bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Software Engineering, Information Assurance and Cybersecurity option. Ha found reassurance in her academic journey as she noted the diverse backgrounds of the other attendees and speakers. 

“I realized that there are so many other women that have come to the field with different backgrounds, and that’s inspired me a lot,” Ha said. 

As Ha continued through her undergraduate journey, she became more interested in cybersecurity and landed her current internship in a security engineer role. She decided that she should take some cybersecurity classes to help prepare her for the internship when she received the invitation from the CSS division to apply for the WiCyS conference. 

Comprised of keynote speakers, workshops, resume reviews, and socials, the conference offered attendees valuable career insights and networking opportunities. Ha highlighted that this conference was unique in that connections with professionals didn’t feel transactional. She was able to speak with people for up to an hour about her resume, career tracks, interviewing skills, and more — an experience that she felt was unique to the WiCyS conference.    

Ha noted that she’s generally an introverted person but the genuine kindness and encouragement from industry professionals at the conference helped grow her confidence.  

“This conference made me more open to other people,” Ha said. ”And I’d like to offer the same help to other women, to other students, if I have a chance to.” 

Expanding expertise  

Graduate student Rithi Afra Jerald Jothi was working in a computer science role when she applied to UW Bothell’s Computer Science & Software Engineering master’s program. While in the program, she took classes to dive deeper into the cybersecurity side of computer science since she was already doing some of the work in her job. Seeking more guidance about career and academics paths, Rithi applied for the CSS scholarship to attend the WiCyS conference because she felt like it would be a good opportunity to learn more about the security side of the computer science field.  

“I was a little confused if I have to direct my career toward the software development side or security,” Rithi said. “So, I was just looking out for opportunities which would enhance my ideas on these domains so that it would give me a clearer picture.”  

At the conference, Rithi connected one on one with industry professionals and received a lot of advice on her career — valuable wisdom that she says she would not have been able to receive had she not attended.   

“All of them were able to give me insights on how to find professions which would combine both of these fields,” Rithi said. “So that was the first benefit, the biggest benefit, which helped me to shape my career at this point.”  

“I want to see more women in cybersecurity in my own classrooms and then in the industry and so on.”  

Dr. Geethapriya Thamilarasu

Empowerment through community  

For Dr. Geethapriya Thamilarasu, associate professor in the CSS division, the conference offered more than just professional development; it provided a sense of community and support.  

“I’m the only female faculty in cybersecurity here, so sometimes meeting with other women in the cybersecurity field provides that sense of community and support in a way that I don’t usually find here,” Thamilarasu said. 

Thamilarasu attended the conference twice before but shared that it’s always an inspiring experience because of all the different keynote speakers sharing their stories. 

“No matter what stage of career you are in, hearing from these successful women in cybersecurity can be extremely inspiring, motivating and empowering,” Thamilarasu said. “And then you come back ready to pass the torch on to get more women in the field. I want to see more women in cybersecurity in my own classrooms and then in the industry and so on.”  

Elevating voices  

Gender diversity in cybersecurity is something that resonates deeply with Thamilarasu as she is currently the only female faculty in cybersecurity at UW Bothell. She believes that recruiting and encouraging women to join these fields of study will be “extremely important for the growth of the industry as a whole.”  

Thamilarasu notes that a diverse workforce brings a broader range of perspectives and experiences to the table — essential for developing comprehensive cybersecurity strategies.  

“You don’t know if this is a field for you unless you go and see people who look like me, who talk like me, who think like me are leading this field in so many different ways,” Thamilarasu said.   

Thamilarasu’s commitment to diversity echoes the broader efforts at UW Bothell, where initiatives like sponsoring student conference attendance are championed to support women in STEM fields. The university’s investment in fostering diversity and inclusion is further demonstrated by the proactive actions of students like Lily Aguirre and Margaret Lanphere, the president and vice president of the WiCyS student chapter at UW Bothell, who secured funding through the Student Academic Enhancement Fund to attend the WiCyS conference. Their initiative underscores the importance of empowering students to take ownership of their learning and professional growth.

The students and professors who attended the conference all echo the same sentiment— they gained so much from their attendance.   

“The feeling of the inspiration and the empowerment that comes from the conference is unmatchable,” Thamilarasu said. “I think that is something everybody should experience.”