8M: Code has no gender

How do you imagine the cybersecurity professional? Many people would say a male, computer scientist, young, hooded and in front of a black screen. It's almost unintentional, and it's just one of the many stereotypes that surround the sector.

On the occasion of 8 March, International Women's Day, we want to break some of these stereotypes and tell the story of real women, always from the perspective of equality. This is why we are joining the government delegation with its campaign "8M. 8 women, 8 reasons" campaign.

At S2 Grupo, we are fortunate to have professionals who are taking steps to close the gap in a predominantly male sector, and in this context we wanted to ask the protagonists directly, joining the story of 8 of them to represent all of them.

The gender gap in everyday life: the main barriers

It seems obvious that people's aptitude for any job does not depend on their gender. But what is the reality? We listen to these female colleagues as they tell us how they got here and what their journey has been like.

Agustina Calderón, an industrial engineer and currently part of the N1 coordination and management team at S2 Grupo, tells us that she always knew that what really moved her was creativity and innovation. And although many people are surprised to hear these words associated with more technical subjects such as mathematics or physics, this is what led her to choose cybersecurity.

When it comes to the main challenge for women in professional life, Agustina believes that "the challenge is to gain credibility, especially in positions of responsibility and decision-making".

Some of the women who accompanied us recognise that they have experienced certain differences between men and women during their extensive careers to date, but they have decided to extract the positive aspects and turn them into lessons learned. As Laura says, "I have banished the male or female gender of the partner. It's a person, a professional, and I learn from them all the time".

The business case for equality

There is no doubt that work-life balance is a crucial issue in terms of gender equality. And in this sense, the key is that it should be a two-way street: an environment that understands the importance of women's professional development, and a company whose values defend the family and personal life of its team.

Laura Sancarlos, Senior Technician in the Computer Applications Development Department and currently in charge of Service Management in the Internal Systems Department, has been with the team for many years and has shared an anecdote from her time at S2 Grupo that defines it: "My children have been together for fifteen months. So when I came back from my first maternity leave, I had to tell my boss that I was going to be a mother again. I was terrified, but he congratulated me and that's when I really started to understand what this company was all about. I understood the concept of a big family: we spend so many hours of our lives here and what could be better than to make it your second home".

When asked about their experience in the company, with careers ranging from 10 years to a few months, they all agree that they feel valued for their professional value and that they have found it easy to balance their professional and personal lives.

It is true that women are a fundamental pillar of S2 Grupo's values, which are reflected in #Evoluciona2 and under the common motto: "The code has no gender". We are proud to have a team of more than 700 people participating and making it meaningful.

For this reason, but also because people are at the heart of the company, work-life balance has been at the heart of S2 Grupo since the beginning.

Beyond geographical boundaries: a global perspective

Companies also face the challenge of managing the specificities of each territory in which they operate, especially when they have teams. This is the case of S2 Grupo, which is present in Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Chile, Mexico and Colombia, the latter being the country with the second largest number of employees. How do we deal with this?

Sandra Camargo is a systems engineer and currently works in the Offensive Cyber Capabilities team, although in her 9 years with the company she has seen a great evolution in her responsibilities. "I have seen the growth of both S2 Grupo in general and Colombia, where we have gone from 4 people to more than 50 at the moment," says Sandra of her experience in the Bogotá team.

Although she has experienced significant differences in her previous career, she appreciates the atmosphere of equality and respect that now surrounds her. "Especially here in Colombia, the fact that we only work 40 hours is an advantage, as the law is 47 hours a week. This, together with the flexibility we have, allows us to balance family, social and professional life".

She stressed that the values that define the company are global and that she enjoys the same benefits as her colleagues.

Mentoring and training to develop female talent is vital

It cannot be ignored that in more technical environments and STEAM careers, the number of women is lower (and noticeably so). In fact, in cybersecurity, studies show that this figure is around 20%. However, it also has a high demand for professionals and is one of the sectors with the lowest unemployment.

It seems clear that there is a long way to go to increase female talent in cybersecurity, and all parties have a role and responsibility to play. How can we encourage it?

Raquel Herrero is a computer engineer and currently works in the team as an OT Cybersecurity Analyst. Although she feels she has not faced any obstacles, she highlights the lack of role models. She believes it is very important to give visibility to women in positions of power even in these sectors.

They all agree: seeing it with your own eyes makes things more achievable. Mentorships, workshops and more in-depth soft skills training bring cybersecurity closer to the real world. And while these fields have historically been divorced from creativity and intuition, nothing could be further from the truth.

On the other hand, there are technical and non-technical jobs that are directly related to cybersecurity. Nowadays, the most important thing is not which career you choose, but how you want to go about it. 

This is the case of Gema de la Fuente, a psychology graduate who is currently a pentester at S2 Grupo. Gema's career has moved from one line to another, precisely because she is always looking to improve, which is why she stresses the importance of being open-minded and fighting for it.  "Listening to people, seeing their needs, teaching and giving them the opportunity we all want, leaving aside the prejudices of appearance, gender, culture and beliefs", is the essence of everything that companies and society can do to make girls and young people visible and inspire them to choose a STEAM education.

Lucía Díaz, a law graduate and current member of the GRC team, also has a message for all women starting their careers. "They should be confident and remember that being a woman does not make them any less qualified", she said, joined by Beatriz Valls, from the Cyber Intelligence team at S2 Grupo, who reminds them that the world of technology is vast and offers endless opportunities for those willing to learn and challenge themselves.

A journey through the experiences of these 8 women that would give much more, but that leaves behind a learning experience of what remains to be done and a palpable reflection of the synergies that women create in any field.

Undoubtedly, the most important thing is not to close doors and to keep moving forward!