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，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。这一目标的实现是由于对网络安全专业人员的需求日益增长，加上该领域女性代表性不足。美国劳工统计局的数据显示，18%的网络安全专家是女性。人们越来越意识到，任何旨在增加网络安全劳动力的可扩展和可持续努力都不能忽视大学预科生，这表明需要为高中年龄的儿童，尤其是女孩，提供更有效的计划和支持。然而，人们对如何让少女参与网络安全和解决该领域女性严重短缺的问题知之甚少。这项研究将为高中教师成功的网络安全专业发展和少女有效的网络安全教学提供基于证据的知识。研究结果将有助于其他地区和学校证明使用类似干预模式的合理性，以便他们的教师能够打破刻板印象威胁的障碍，并在网络安全领域吸引和留住女孩。更具体地说，这种创新的网络安全干预包括以下内容：（1）高中教师的网络安全培训计划;（2）由动手、协作和能力建设活动组成的课程，帮助高中教师在单一性别的学校环境中向女学生介绍网络安全的概念和挑战;（3）高中女生和教师的女性导师网络，实地考察，让女孩接触到实地的机会，并参与全国性的高中取证挑战，吸引了数千名热衷于网络安全的学生;（4）为实施课程的教师提供持续的技术援助，以确保该方案在伙伴学校的可持续性;在两年的时间里，将招募来自纽约3-6所高中的至少150名女孩参加干预活动，这些学校的学生群体具有种族、民族和社会经济多样性。一个准实验设计，使用控制组和前后测试在每所学校，将被用来检查干预的成功。此外，将利用定性研究设计来记录发生的学习过程和学生的经验。的影响，和经验，教师在程序中也将使用前后测试定量和定性研究设计进行研究。这一混合方法研究将衡量影响和有效性，以改进今后的努力，并为女孩参与网络安全制定一个循证模式，可在全国推广。

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.