Following school, Emma studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Leeds before going to the University of Bristol where she gained a MSc in International Security. Since graduating in September 2019 Emma now works for IBM as a Cyber Security consultant, as part of their graduate scheme.

Coinciding with International Women’s Day and British Science Week, Emma prepared a fascinating virtual talk to budding computer scientists at BGS about her experience of being a female working in cyber security and her route into this area. Her talk focused on her experience of being a female breaking into the technical world from a non-technical background; playing catch-up on her IT knowledge in comparison to others on her graduate scheme, most of whom are male from Computer Science backgrounds. Emma spoke about the growing apprenticeships in this area and how many are run in conjunction with universities. She also discussed having the confidence in applying for jobs when you do not necessarily have the full skill set required, making the areas you perceive you are lacking as goals rather than obstacles.

At present, women make up only 20% of the workforce in the Information Security sector and the difference between the demand for cyber security professionals and their supply is estimated to reach 1.8 million by 2022 - the market for jobs is going to be huge! There is a big drive in increasing the diversity within the industry and Emma is keen that women are equipped with the skills required to thrive in this ever-expanding market.