Broadening Participation in the CyberCorps(R) Scholarship for Service Program

扩大 Cyber​​Corps(R) 服务奖学金计划的参与范围

• 批准号: 2208797
• 负责人: Carla Brodley
• 金额: $ 160.18万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-15 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208797&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Broadening; Participation; CyberCorps; Scholarship; Service

Despite the high demand for cybersecurity professionals, progress in recruiting members of populations historically underrepresented in the computing field has been limited. In order to meet this demand and ensure a robust cybersecurity workforce, a more inclusive and diverse workforce is needed. This project aims to address this need and serve the national interest by broadening participation in the NSF’s CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program. Northeastern University’s Center for Inclusive Computing (CIC) will work with SFS institutions to build inclusive environments and increase the representation of students of all races, ethnicities, and genders earning cybersecurity graduate degrees. Specifically, CIC will empower SFS institutions to build bridge programs that connect graduate degree-seeking individuals from populations, who have been historically underrepresented in computing, to advanced degrees in cybersecurity. Such bridge programs will enable the participation of individuals, who may have their undergraduate degrees in subject areas other than computing, to pursue higher education in cybersecurity at SFS project sites. Creating a path for a demographically and socio-economically broader population to access cybersecurity graduate degree programs is critical to strengthening and diversifying the cybersecurity workforce. Over a three-year period, the CIC will work with two cohorts of up to eight SFS institutions (i.e., for a potential total of 16 institutions) to identify and implement strategies that have been shown effective in attracting, retaining, and graduating students who identify as women, Black, African American, Latino(a), Hispanic or Indigenous. The CIC was created in 2019 as a national effort to increase the representation of women of all races and ethnicities in computing. In addition to supporting institutions financially, the CIC provides program management, technical consulting, data collection, and visualization services. The objectives of this project are to leverage CIC's experience with increasing the participation of women in computing and apply it more broadly to increase the diversity and number of all students participating in SFS projects, with particular attention to those seeking graduate degrees. To achieve these objectives, the CIC will issue a call for proposals to all SFS institutions interested in and committed to building a bridge program. For selected institutions, the project team will conduct in-person site visits involving current students and SFS scholars, cyber faculty, advisors, teaching assistants, and the relevant chair(s), dean(s), or provost(s). The project team will develop a summary report to share with the institution and NSF. The report will summarize findings and recommendations on the interventions the CIC believes will lead to a meaningful change in demographic diversity. The CIC will also support the implementation of selected institutions over a two-year period, providing coaching and support and connecting institutions with consultants with deep expertise in related areas. Consultants’ areas of expertise will include but not be limited to recruiting, marketing, student mentoring and support, relevant industry engagement, and curriculum development.This project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EHR Racial Equity). The program supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This program aligns with NSF’s core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Funds for EHR Racial Equity are pooled from programs across EHR in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管对网络安全专业人员的需求很高，但在招聘计算机领域历来代表性不足的人群方面进展有限。为了满足这一需求并确保拥有一支强大的网络安全队伍，需要一支更具包容性和多样性的队伍。该项目旨在满足这一需求，并通过扩大参与NSF的CyberCorps®服务奖学金(SFS)计划来服务于国家利益。东北大学普惠计算中心(CIC)将与SFS机构合作，构建包容性环境，增加获得网络安全研究生学位的所有种族、民族和性别的学生的代表性。具体地说，CIC将授权SFS机构建立桥梁项目，将寻求研究生学位的个人与网络安全方面的高级学位联系起来。这样的桥梁计划将使个人能够参与到SFS项目地点继续接受网络安全方面的高等教育，他们可能拥有计算以外的学科领域的本科学位。为人口统计学和社会经济上更广泛的人口提供网络安全研究生学位课程的途径，对于加强网络安全劳动力并使其多样化至关重要。在三年的时间里，CIC将与最多八所SFS机构(即潜在的总共16所机构)的两个队列合作，以确定和实施已被证明在吸引、留住和毕业自认为是女性、黑人、非裔美国人、拉丁裔(A)、西班牙裔或土著学生方面有效的战略。CIC成立于2019年，是一项全国性的努力，旨在增加所有种族和民族的女性在计算机领域的代表性。除了在资金上支持机构外，CIC还提供项目管理、技术咨询、数据收集和可视化服务。该项目的目标是利用CIC在增加妇女参与计算机方面的经验，并更广泛地应用它，以增加参加SFS项目的所有学生的多样性和数量，特别是那些寻求研究生学位的学生。为了实现这些目标，CIC将向所有对建立桥梁计划感兴趣并致力于建立桥梁计划的SFS机构发出建议。对于选定的机构，项目组将进行面对面的现场访问，参与者包括在校学生和SFS学者、网络教师、顾问、教学助理以及相关教席(S)、院长(S)或教务长(S)。项目团队将编写一份总结报告，与该机构和NSF分享。该报告将总结CIC认为将导致人口多样性发生有意义变化的干预措施的调查结果和建议。CIC还将在两年内支持选定机构的实施，为机构提供指导和支持，并将机构与在相关领域拥有深厚专业知识的顾问联系起来。顾问的专业领域将包括但不限于招聘、营销、学生指导和支持、相关行业参与和课程开发。该项目由STEM教育中的种族平等计划(EHR Race Equity)资助。该计划支持研究和实践项目，调查种族平等因素如何影响科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育和劳动力的改善。获奖项目寻求集中受STEM企业内部系统性不平等影响最大的个人、社区和机构的声音、知识和经验。该计划符合NSF的核心价值，即支持来自全国不同人口群体、地区和组织类型的杰出研究人员和创新思想家。EHR种族公平的资金从整个EHR的项目中汇集起来，以表彰其项目与理事会四个部门的集体研发推动力的一致性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。