Securing the Future: Inclusive Cybersecurity Education for All

该项目旨在通过在Bluegrass社区和技术学院为所有人创建包容性的网络安全技术人员教育来服务于国家利益，以确保未来的网络安全劳动力。该项目旨在解决肯塔基州缺乏熟练的网络安全专业人员的问题。项目小组计划调查影响高中和大学生职业决定的因素，确定完成证书的潜在障碍，并评估教师和同伴指导对学生成功的影响。项目团队打算确定有效的指导属性，以便有效地招聘熟练的技术员工。该项目有可能通过增强高中学生、教师和辅导员对准确信息的访问来增加网络安全证书的入学率。该项目将支持同侪导师和高中教师暑期讲习班。兼职保留和招聘专家计划通过在整个大学校园举办网络安全职业探索研讨会，聘请近同行导师来支持少数民族和女学生。项目团队计划从当地高中招募240名不同的学生（包括女生和STEM代表性不足的群体的学生）进入混合校园计划。这个混合计划包括各种活动，让学生接触网络安全技能，证书和职业道路。该项目将在整个项目期间招募和培训20名教师或辅导员。项目团队将为教师或辅导员提供对网络安全的基本了解，以便他们能够促进参加双学分网络安全课程的高中生取得成功。该项目的调查结果将分发给全州其他社区学院。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于推动国家经济的先进技术领域的技术人员的教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by creating an inclusive cybersecurity technician education for all at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in order to secure the future cybersecurity workforce. The project intends to address Kentucky's shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. The project team plans to investigate factors influencing high school and college students' career decisions, identify potential barriers to credential completion, and assess the impact of faculty and peer mentoring on student success. The project team intends to identify effective mentoring attributes in order to effectively recruit skilled technical employees. The project has the potential to increase enrollment in cybersecurity credentials by enhancing access to accurate information for high school students, teachers, and counselors. The project will support peer mentors, and summer workshops for high school teachers. A part-time retention and recruitment specialist plans to engage near-peer mentors to support minority and female students by hosting workshops of the cybersecurity career exploration across the college campus. The project team plans to recruit 240 diverse students (including female students and students from groups underrepresented in STEM) from local high schools into a hybrid campus program. This hybrid program includes various activities to expose students to cybersecurity skills, credentials and career pathways. The project will recruit and train 20 teachers or counselors over the life of the project. The project team will provide teachers or counselors with a basic understanding of cybersecurity so that they will be able to facilitate success for high school students enrolled in dual credit cybersecurity courses. The project findings will be disseminated to other community colleges across the state. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the Nation's economy.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.