Cybersecurity as a career in Nuclear Power plants began shortly after 2001 when
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a varied series of orders intending to
increase the protection of the computer systems at the nuclear power plants. It was not
until 2009 that the NRC ordered that all, “Digital computer and communication systems
associated with a nuclear power plant’s safety, security, and emergency preparedness
functions are protected from cyberattacks.” Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (2026,
September 14th). Cybersecurity infrastructure changes and interagency interfaces.
https://www.nrc.gov/facilities-safety/cybersecurity . Once these initiatives took place, the
need for cybersecurity professionals in the nuclear power plant industry skyrocketed.

The large majority of cybersecurity specialists involved in Nuclear Energy are men
and especially white men. Women and minorities are heavily underrepresented in the
cybersecurity sector in general and especially in the nuclear energy sector. According to
the United States Census Bureau woman make up 50.9% of Americans, US Census
Bureau. (n.d. but updated annually) Quick facts United States.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/SEX255225 yet they make up only 18%
of Americans who are involved in cybersecurity. Apolinar, A. (2026, March). The Future of
Cybersecurity Needs More Women. Cyber Defense Magazine.
https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/the-future-of-cybersecurity-needs-more-
women/ . With more diversity in this field comes better outcomes in every way. More
perspective on how to solve cybersecurity issues and nuclear power dilemmas in general.
According to these sources many women do not consider roles in cybersecurity for a wide
variety of reasons. First and foremost is the assumption that I.T. and cybersecurity as a
whole is a “man’s job”. Not to mention that even when woman is encouraged to enter the
cybersecurity field there are barriers that stand in their way. A male dominated field is
intimidating to women and there will be treatment that they have to endure that the
average man will not. From pay gaps to institutionalized sexual harassment, the
challenges that a woman in cybersecurity will have to face is extremely unfair. The article
states that women may encounter up to a 22% pay gap for the exact same job with the
same credentials. The article also states that 83% of women surveyed reported feelings of
bias or exclusion from their coworkers in the cybersecurity workplace. Apolinar, A. (2026,
March). The Future of Cybersecurity Needs More Women. Cyber Defense Magazine.
https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/the-future-of-cybersecurity-needs-more-
women/. This disparity grows even larger when you break down the metrics of the
ethnicities of women. According to the previously cited article black women make up only
3% of the cybersecurity workforce, and Latino women are lowest at a max of 2%. With all
these barriers and gaps that women have to cross to just reach the starting line, why would the majority of them even bother to enter this field when there are other fields of study that pay the same and the treatment is much fairer?

Actual concrete research on the disparities of various ethnicities and genders
represented within the Nuclear Power Sector of Cybersecurity is very sparse. This is a
perfect example of why more social science research is needed in the field of Nuclear
Power Cybersecurity. We are literally missing the research needed for me to tell you
factually why this research is beneficial. There are obvious aspects though. Whenever a
field of science is more diverse, the outcomes are always more positive. Soyoung H. (2020,
May 7). Companies with women in leadership positions are more profitable than those
without. Peterson Institute for International Economics.
https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/2020/companies-women-leadership-
positions-are-more-profitable-those-without . This blog shows that companies led by
women are on average MORE profitable than companies led by men. This research has
repeated many times and shows a consistent trend. Why do we not include women at a
higher rate in cybersecurity so we can generate more profit?

One aspect of why this field might be more male dominated can be explained with
psychology. A couple of different psychological schools apply to this situation. The School
of Social-cultural psychology shows that people are influenced by the culture, and the
social situations of their society can shape their opinions and expectations. If woman grow
up in a society where I.T. Professionals are nearly always men, then subconsciously the
expectation is that the position is for a man. This type of thinking also bleeds over into the
Psychodynamic side of Psychology. With early childhood experiences shaping who we are,
then when we see men handling technology and women either not handling it or handling it rarely, the gender expectation for that role feeds itself.

Men commit far more cybercrime than women. Muncaster. P. (2026, September 3rd).
Cybercrime and gender equality: Women comprise a surprisingly large share of
cybercriminals. Barracuda. https://blog.barracuda.com/2023/03/09/cybercrime-gender-
equality . According to this research blog roughly 30% of the users on cybercrime forums
are women. Crime is an interesting microcosm of the privilege available to certain groups.
If women had more technology focused opportunities and less barriers to entry, it is
reasonable to assume that with women making up just about 51% of the population that
51% of cybercrimes would also be committed by women. Obviously, I am not for more
crime, but crime is simply another metric we can use to measure the availability and
accessibility of this type of field to women as a whole.

Cybersecurity as it is pertaining to Nuclear Power is a new area of study only spurred to
creation by the 2001 terror attacks in New York. Every single year the need for new
cybersecurity professionals grows and the percentage of women and women in this field is massively imbalanced. The exclusion of women in this field is due to many factors
including psychological, social, cultural, and financial. Once women are more represented
in this field the outcomes are only going to be positive.