Girls from dozens of schools across California have excelled in cybersecurity learning through the competition, Girls Go CyberStart (GGCS). One-hundred-two girls from 29 high schools across the state qualified to compete in the U.S. National Championship. Only 36% of the schools in the nation that participated qualified for this final round. In addition, 27 California girls will compete in the individual track of the competition.
The online competition will be held this Wednesday and Thursday, May 20 and 21. There will be 357 teams vying for state and national titles, along with cash prizes. Each school will choose four students to compete and top scoring teams will win $400 per team member and $250 for their school! Here’s a link to list of schools that qualified.
Girls Go CyberStart is designed for girls enrolled in grades 9 through 12 to educate and inspire them to discover the opportunities offered by a career in cybersecurity. “The need to fill cybersecurity jobs has never been greater,” said Amy Tong, California’s chief information officer and director of the California Department of Technology (CDT), who is also sponsoring the state’s initiative on behalf of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center. “Every year, the gap between jobs and a trained cybersecurity workforce grows a little wider. We need to get young people into the pipeline as soon as possible and Girls Go CyberStart is an excellent way to do just that.” CDT’s Brenda Bridges Cruz, deputy director of professional development and Acting State Information Security Officer Vitaliy Panych, are the leads for California’s GGCS involvement.
According to the Center for Cyber Safety and Education, just 11 percent of cybersecurity professionals today are female in a career with thousands of job openings.
Congratulations to all the students who made it this far!