The Hudson County Community College Cybersecurity Mentoring Program, designed to increase the number of women working in the growing cybersecurity field, earned the 2025 “Inspiring Program in STEM” Award from Insight Into Academia Magazine. Pictured here, an HCCC student and mentor in one of the College’s STEM labs.

The College’s Cybersecurity Mentoring Programs are designed to
close the gender gap, foster innovation, and build an equitable workforce.

“Penelope Garcia” was a hacker-turned-FBI cybersecurity pro in the television drama Criminal Minds. But today, women make up only 20% of the United States cybersecurity workforce. To help reverse this trend, Hudson County Community College (HCCC) devised the Cybersecurity Mentoring Program to recruit and retain women in the HCCC Associate in Science in Cybersecurity degree program, where 19% of the 199 current students are female.

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