EDU: Cyber Girls: Teacher training and school-based cyber security education for high school girls

这个为期两年的项目的主要目标是开发、实施和研究一种干预措施，以提高高中教师的网络安全意识和熟练程度，并使高中女生接触网络安全活动和职业。对网络安全专业人员的需求日益增长，加上女性在这一领域的代表性不足，促使了这一目标的实现。美国劳工统计局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）报告称，18%的网络安全专家是女性。越来越多的人意识到，任何可扩展和可持续的努力都不能忽视大学预科学生，这表明需要更有效的计划和对高中年龄儿童的支持，尤其是女孩。然而，对于如何让青春期女孩参与网络安全，以及如何解决该领域女性严重短缺的问题，人们知之甚少。本研究旨在为高中教师提供成功的网络安全专业发展知识，并为少女提供有效的网络安全指导。研究结果将有助于其他地区和学校证明使用类似的干预模式是合理的，这样他们的教师就可以打破刻板印象威胁的障碍，让女孩参与并留在网络安全领域。更具体地说，这一创新的网络安全干预措施包括以下内容：(1)针对高中教师的网络安全培训计划；(2)一个由实践、协作和能力建设活动组成的课程，帮助高中教师向女学生介绍单性别学校环境下的网络安全概念和挑战；(3)高中女生和教师的女性导师网络，实地考察，使女孩接触到在该领域的机会，并参与全国范围内的高中取证挑战，吸引了数千名对网络安全充满热情的学生；(4)为实施课程的教师提供持续的技术援助，以确保项目在合作学校的可持续性；在两年的时间里，至少有150名来自纽约3-6所高中的女生将被招募参加这项干预活动，这些学校的学生在种族、民族和社会经济上都是不同的。将采用准实验设计，在每所学校使用控制组和前后测试来检查干预的成功。此外，定性研究设计将用于记录发生的学习过程和学生的经验。该项目对教师的影响和经验也将采用测试前后定量和定性研究设计进行研究。这项混合方法研究将评估影响和有效性，以改进未来的努力，并为让女孩参与网络安全制定一个基于证据的模型，并在全国推广。

The main objective of this two-year project is to develop, implement, and study an intervention that increases cybersecurity awareness and proficiency among high school teachers and exposes high school girls to cybersecurity activities and careers. This objective is spurred by the growing need for cybersecurity professionals coupled with the under-representation of women in this field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 18% of cybersecurity specialists are women. There has been increasing awareness that any scalable and sustainable effort to grow the workforce in cybersecurity cannot ignore pre-college students, indicating a need for more effective programs and support for high school aged children, especially girls. However, little is known about what it takes to engage adolescent girls in cybersecurity and combat the dramatic shortage of women in the field. This research study will generate evidence based knowledge about successful cybersecurity professional development for high school teachers and effective cybersecurity instruction for adolescent girls. The results will help other districts and schools justify the use of similar intervention models so that their teachers can break the barriers of stereotype threat and engage and retain girls in the cyber security field.More specifically, this innovative cybersecurity intervention includes the following: (1) A cybersecurity training program for high school teachers; (2) A curriculum made up of hands on, collaborative and ability building activities that help high school teachers introduce their female students to concepts and challenges of cybersecurity within single-sex school-based settings; (3) A female mentor network for high school girls and teachers, field trips that expose girls to opportunities in the field and involvement in a nation-wide high school forensics challenge that attracts thousands of students passionate about cybersecurity; (4) Ongoing technical assistance for teachers implementing the curriculum in order to ensure sustainability of the program in the partnering schools; Over the course of two years, at least 150 girls from 3-6 high schools in New York with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse student populations will be recruited to participate in the intervention. A quasi-experimental design, using a control group and pre-post tests in each school, will be utilized to examine the success of the intervention. Additionally, a qualitative research design will be utilized to document the process of learning that takes place and the experiences of the students. The impact on, and experience of, teachers in the program will also be studied using a pre-post test quantitative and qualitative research design. This mixed methods study will gauge impact and effectiveness in order to improve future efforts and to produce an evidence-based model for engaging girls in cybersecurity, which can be disseminated nationally.