Despite new opportunities and active recruitment, American women are still shying away from cybersecurity and data science careers, forcing U.S. government agencies to hire from a predominantly male recruitment pool, according to Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham (pictured), distinguished professor of computer science and executive director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas.

“Most of the women, especially in our graduate programs, are from South Asia and East Asia. We hardly find U.S.-born women pursuing careers in areas like cybersecurity,” Dr. Bhavani said.

Dr. Bhavani spoke with Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara) host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Global Women in Data Science Conference in Stanford, California. They discussed Dr. Bhavani’s career as a pioneer in computer science, the continuing scarcity of women choosing technology programs, and how the U.S. government is funding initiatives to encourage its citizens to study cybersecurity.

NSF offers cybersecurity scholarships

When Dr. Bhavani started her career 35 years ago, she was one of only a few women specializing in data science (then called data management) and cybersecurity (known as computer security). With no female role models to guide her, her career path has been an up-and-down mixture of tenacity, hard work and a lucky break or two. Today she focuses on coaching women who want a career in computer science, but despite an explosion of opportunity, women are still not enrolling at the same percentage as men, she explained.

In the past eight years, approximately 50 students have graduated from the cybersecurity program at the University of Texas at Dallas, out of which only about eight are women. “So from zero to go to eight is a good thing, but it’s not great.  … Out of 50, we should get at least 25,” said Dr. Bhavani.

International student enrollment increases the female-male ratio to 3:7 in data science courses; however, foreign graduates can not work for U.S. government agencies such as the National Information Center or Central Intelligence Agency, according to Dr. Bhavani.

“With cybersecurity there is such a shortage with the U.S. government, and so we have substantial funding from the National Science Foundation to educate U.S. citizen students in cybersecurity and especially recruit more women in cybersecurity,” she said.

Recipients of the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service may be awarded full tuition costs plus a generous stipend in return for committing to work for the government after graduation.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Global Women in Data Science Conference. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Women in Data Science Conference. Neither Stanford University, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE