Addressing the Need for Women and Minorities in Cybersecurity: A High School Early Admit Study

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The "Addressing the Need for Women and Minorities in Cybersecurity: A High School Early Admit Study" at the University of Hawaii Maui Community College will investigate ways to increase the number of women and minority high school students in cybersecurity. The project will create an early-admit afterschool career pathway for students in grades 11 and 12 that leads to a Cybersecurity Certificate of Completion. The goal will be to motivate students to pursue jobs from basic Computer Support Specialist through advanced level positions in Information Assurance. The project will be implemented in a rural setting where high schools often lack the institutional capital to offer information, technology and computer science programs. This project will investigate what high school women and minority students need to succeed in information security professions. Moreover, the project will identify factors that affect high school students' cybersecurity career interests. The project specifically targets young women and minorities, who live in rural areas in Maui County Hawaii, without ready access to technology. The project will be unique in that it focuses on cybersecurity issues that are critical for small businesses, an often-overlooked segment of the national economy. This project will be based on an economic model in which early-admit afterschool programs present a viable option for high school students to signal their college/career preferences. The project will engage more than 70 underrepresented high school students with core topics in cybersecurity: (1) participation in a combined problem-based learning (PLB) and game-based learning environment; (2) involvement in hands-on cybersecurity competitions; (3) connection to appropriate college academic and financial aid advising; (4) engagement with community mentors. The project aims to have at least 80% of the targeted participants complete all stages of the career pathway. At least 30% of the participants will be women and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The goal of this project is to develop a model that can be replicated in other rural communities to broaden participation for historically underrepresented students by extracting and addressing key factors as important determinants for high school women and minority students' cybersecurity career/job interest. The project will also develop and train faculty and community mentors as part of faculty-industry teams who will be in positions to disseminate cybersecurity technician education.