Education DCL: EAGER: Exploring New Pathways into Cybersecurity Careers for Rural English Learners through XR-enabled Educational Methods

防御网络安全攻击需要一支训练有素的网络安全队伍。然而，劳动力短缺正日益威胁着美国的安全和工业增长。帮助填补这一短缺的潜在未开发资源是38%的高中生，他们毕业后没有进入四年制大学。这些学生中的许多人往往来自服务不足的人群，他们渴望获得更高技能的职业和高等教育，但他们努力克服限制他们参与的障碍。该项目使用扩展现实(XR)技术来鼓励农村英语学习者(EL)的学生考虑网络安全职业。爱荷华州立大学的一个跨学科团队与爱荷华州暴风湖的合作伙伴共同领导了这个项目。暴风湖是一个不断发展的农村肉类加工小镇，有大量的移民和难民人口。该项目的创新之处在于为El学生设计XR资源原型，并评估它们提高学生对网络安全的兴趣的潜力。该项目的更广泛的意义和重要性是帮助El学生培训技能更高、收入更高的工作，这些工作可以改善他们家庭的条件，并将更多的妇女和来自服务不足社区的人带入网络安全。该项目认为，农村El学生是未来劳动力中尚未开发的部分，具有通过证书和副学位等高等教育途径进入网络安全领域的巨大潜力。在学生从高中过渡到高等教育的研究空白的启发下，该项目鼓励El学生通过增加他们对该领域的兴趣和知识来考虑网络安全职业。该项目的假设是，使用身临其境和互动的XR技术将显著提高El学生对网络安全主题的参与度和动机，研究表明，这是选择职业的关键因素。该项目的目标是：1。开发共同设计的支持XR的教育资源的原型。2.评估这些资源在英语学生中是否有希望。3.分析项目结果以指导未来的研究。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。

Defending against cybersecurity attacks requires a well-trained cybersecurity workforce. Yet, worker shortages are increasingly threatening U.S. security and industrial growth. A potential untapped resource to help fill this shortage is the 38% of high school students who do not attend a four-year university after graduation. Many of these students, often from underserved populations, aspire to higher-skilled careers and postsecondary education, but they struggle to overcome barriers that limit their participation. This project uses Extended Reality (XR) technologies to encourage rural English Learner (EL) students to consider cybersecurity careers. An interdisciplinary team from Iowa State University leads the project in collaboration with partners in Storm Lake, Iowa, a growing rural meatpacking town with a large migrant and refugee population. The project's novelties are designing XR resource prototypes for EL students and evaluating their potential to increase students' interest in cybersecurity. The project's broader significance and importance are to assist EL students in training for higher-skilled, better-paid jobs that can improve conditions for their households and to bring more women and people from underserved communities into cybersecurity.This project considers rural EL students an untapped segment of the future workforce with significant potential to enter the cybersecurity field through postsecondary pathways such as certificates and associate degrees. Inspired by gaps in research on student transitions from high school into postsecondary education, this project encourages EL students to consider a cybersecurity career by increasing their interest and knowledge of the field. The project hypothesis is that using immersive and interactive XR technologies will significantly improve EL students' engagement and motivation with cybersecurity topics, which research shows are essential factors in choosing a career. The project goals are to: 1. Develop prototypes of co-designed XR-enabled educational resources. 2.Assess if these resources show promise with EL students. 3. Analyze project findings to guide future research.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.