The 2019 Scottish Cyber Awards will take place this month at Edinburgh’s Sheraton Grand Hotel. Now in its fourth year, the awards recognise and celebrate those who are championing and leading the way in Scotland’s cybersecurity sector. 

Hosted by the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, the awards will shine a light on all of the inspirational figures and innovative companies across the country.

At this year’s ceremony, the Teacher of the Year award is a hotly contested category, with three teachers nominated; Toni Scullion, Nicola Orr and Derek Harris.

In the first of three Q&A articles, DIGIT speaks to Nicola Orr, a teacher at Condorrat Primary School in Cumbernauld to gauge her thoughts on the cybersecurity sector and how we can inspire more children to pursue careers in this rapidly-evolving industry. 

Tell us a bit about yourself, Nicola 

Hi! I’m Nicola Orr and I am a primary school teacher at Condorrat Primary School in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. 

I have been teaching for six years, and for the past three years, I have been specialising in Digital Literacy and STEM. As a teacher, I believe education has the power to engage, inspire and transform children’s lives.  

I love going to work every day knowing the impact I can have on my pupils – it really is such a privilege to be teaching the future. My mission is to engage pupils in all aspects of digital literacy and STEM, challenge gender stereotypes and promote the safe use of digital technology. 

What do you believe are the key challenges for encouraging youngsters to pursue careers in cybersecurity? 

In a primary school setting, the challenges can often be related to time and resources. With a vast range of subjects to cover already, teachers who lack confidence in this area will find it difficult to link it to other areas of the curriculum and may have reservations about using their time to plan, create resources and teach it to their classes. 

With so much to do and so little time, teachers may not see cybersecurity as a priority in their planning and teaching.

As a teacher, how would you explain or highlight the benefit of careers in this area to a student?

We live in a world that is filled with technology. For many of us, it’s part of our everyday life. Our lives are online; we share precious moments and communicate with our social network online, we store our private and personal information online, shop online, stream music or moves online, apply for jobs.

As technology advances, so does our reliance on the cyber sector. This is why a career in cybersecurity is in such high demand. It’s not just a job. It’s relevant, a job of the future. What job offers the chance to investigate, solve problems, find solutions, crack codes, get creative, think outside the box and do what hasn’t been done? Cybersecurity does. Our digital society needs this profession.

Gender deficits in STEM subjects are an area of concern within the technology sector as a whole, how can we tackle this issue?

Unfortunately, gender stereotypes are still an issue. Ask children from the age of eight to draw a computer programmer or a scientist and the majority will almost certainly be male. In my opinion, this is caused by women being poorly represented in these roles in everyday life and in books, movies and the media.

I feel that we are slowly tackling this issue, though. No longer are the technicians that children see in school predominately male. More and more, women are being recognised in this sector, especially through initiatives like ‘dressCode’, ‘Code First’, ‘Women Who Code’ and awards like the SWiT and Scottish Cyber Awards.

How can we go about inspiring more girls and young women to pursue careers in tech and cybersecurity?

I think it’s all about role models. Children need to see women in technology, too. They need to learn about inspiring women in STEM, like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper. They need to see computer analysts and cybersecurity professionals in movies and the media.

If we grow up with this as the norm and feel inspired by women in technology, we’re more likely to pursue that career ourselves. Teachers have an important role to play in this. Girls and young women need more opportunities to explore this area, build their confidence, and showcase their talents and creativity. Celebrate the success of girls and women in technology!