The latest research from the global IT security training company SANS Institute has shown that the choice of IT (including cybersecurity) as a career is the highest in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Of those students interested in an IT career, 49 per cent were specifically interested in cybersecurity across the student EMEA sample, with Saudi Arabia and UAE leading the pack at 63 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.
At the end of 2018, SANS Institute commissioned research agency Vanson Bourne to explore awareness and opinions on cybersecurity among 4,000 secondary students in seven countries across Europe and the Middle East. This includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
While most students across EMEA had heard of cyber security (81 per cent), the results show that those countries with higher awareness of the subject could potentially have a competitive advantage when it comes to building out talent in the longer term.
Parents’ role in the education of cyber security around mobile devices and public Wi-Fi was to a large extent the highest among the sample of EMEA countries in Saudi Arabia (51 per cent) and the UAE (44 per cent) followed by Germany (38 per cent).
Additional findings from the research include:
-Given the prolific nature of cybersecurity and the media attention it attracts, it is perhaps surprising that no country achieved 100 per cent awareness. Germany leads the pack in cyber awareness: 92 per cent of German students said they had heard of cybersecurity, followed by the UAE (85 per cent) and the UK (82 per cent).
-There is more to IT than cyber: 32 per cent of students across EMEA consider IT as one of their top five career choices. In fact, it was more likely to rank in the top five than more traditional careers such as doctor/nurse (21 per cent), teacher (19 per cent) or finance worker (16 per cent). At the local level, students from Saudi Arabia (47 per cent), the UAE (46 per cent) and Germany (33 per cent) are more likely to consider IT in their top five careers.
- Of those interested in IT careers, creating applications and software was top of the overall list of sub-categories (61 per cent), followed by IT system design (52 per cent), and third-party cybersecurity (49 per cent).
-Whether or not students are aware of the career options available, 81 per cent of students across EMEA said they would be interested in learning more about the subject as part of their school day, an extra-curricular activity, or both. Again, Saudi Arabia and the UAE led the pack with over 93 per cent of students in Saudi Arabia and 91 per cent in the UAE wanting to learn more about cybersecurity.
