Supporting the Next Generation of Women in Cybersecurity

In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting an organization we have tremendous respect for, The Society of Women Engineers.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is the world’s largest advocate and catalyst of change for women in engineering and technology. Each year, Tanium hosts an SWE cohort from UC Berkeley, and we’re always blown away by the talent and tenacity of these young engineers.

As part of the program, students from the SWE have joined us at Tanium headquarters for the past four years. Of course, this year, our event was virtual.

“Great program! I didn’t know what to expect from a virtual externship, but it was put together excellently,” an attendee shares.

The program gives the students a chance to shadow Tanium’s world-class engineers, receive on-the-job coaching from our technical account managers (TAMs), and participate in a mock-live coding interview.

“The skills assessment was such a good experience,” one of the students explains. “Being able to simulate the interview process with someone who does interviews is so valuable for someone like me who gets jitters just thinking about coding interviews. I also really liked the TAM presentations; they gave me a different perspective on the company. The people I shadowed were also amazing.”

And the team at Tanium gets a lot out of the experience as well. We benefit from their fresh perspective on tech and enthusiasm for the industry.

But there’s another reason why we do this. We want to create a diverse, anti-monoculture future for cybersecurity. Through our Talent of Tomorrow giving programs, with partners like Code.org, Year Up, and the Computer Science Teachers Association, we are committed to building an equitable and inclusive pipeline of incredible technical talent.

Breaking down the stats

In 2020, Code.org reported that female students accounted for 31 percent of all AP Computer Science test-takers — an all-time high, with participation among young women improving for the seventh year in a row.

Those young women are three times more likely to major in computer science and pursue careers in computer science. In fact, the Society of Women Engineers reports that 26 percent of computer science professionals are women. While the numbers are still small, the momentum is promising. You can read their report here.

We’re optimistic about the future and believe it’s vital for us as an industry to continue to empower and encourage women in computer science.

Talent exists everywhere we look — but it is up to us and other leaders in the space to nurture potential and provide opportunity.

“I really enjoyed shadowing the engineers at Tanium — they seem like really great people who are genuinely passionate about the work they do at Tanium,” one student shares. “It was really interesting to see the technologies and tools they used, and I learned a lot about what software engineers do in the industry (which is something I’ve been curious about for some time now). I thought the demo was awesome, and I loved seeing the revolutionary things Tanium is working on. I also really enjoyed the skills assessment process and getting an inside look at the interview process.”

To learn more about our unique culture and what it’s like working at Tanium, visit our website. And be sure to check out our open positions.