Building a Culturally Responsive Degree Program in Information Security

社区学院的学生是高等教育中文化和种族最多样化的群体。然而，有限的关注，这些差异对他们的大学经历的影响。该项目建立在大量研究的基础上，证实课堂和校园气氛对STEM中代表性不足的学生的招聘和保留有重大影响。例如，女性和其他代表性不足的群体更有可能选择并保留在STEM专业时，有高度的社会资本，强大的体验式学习，文化能力的学术支持，并使用包含多元文化教学方法的批判性教学法。该项目旨在开发一个文化响应信息安全副学士学位课程，是响应学生的生活经验和行业所需的技能。 这个项目可以提供一个基础，北安普顿社区学院和其他社区学院可以推进战略，扩大参与STEM职业，特别是在熟练的技术劳动力。该项目包括一个为期三年的综合计划，以实现：1）增强的信息安全副学士学位课程，与学术卓越中心2年指定要求和区域劳动力需求保持一致; 2）吸引代表性不足的学生进入网络安全领域的招聘计划; 3）支持完成，转移，职业安置和/或晋升的保留计划;和4）教师/工作人员招聘计划，以满足未来的招生需求，结合战略，以培养合格的和文化能力的计算机科学教师。该项目有可能说明STEM教师与多样性和包容性办公室之间合作的积极影响。 具体而言，该项目可能表明，教育具有全球竞争力的熟练技术劳动力需要行业驱动的课程和改善代表性不足的学生的教育成果。 此外，它有可能证明，一个文化上胜任的学习环境和学生支持系统可以提高学生在网络安全等高技术领域的成功。因此，项目成果将提供可供教育机构使用的信息，这些教育机构正在努力招收、吸引、留住和毕业于STEM领域的多样化学生群体。 该项目由NSF先进技术教育计划资助，该计划专注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。

Community college students are the most culturally and racially diverse population in higher education. However, limited attention is given to the impact these differences have on their college experience. This project is built upon the substantial body of research confirming that classroom and campus climate have a major influence on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in STEM. For example, women and other underrepresented groups are more likely to choose and be retained in a STEM major when there is a high degree of social capital, robust experiential learning, culturally-competent academic support, and the use of critical pedagogy that incorporates a multicultural approach to teaching. This project aims to develop a culturally-responsive Information Security associate degree program that is responsive to students' life experiences and the skills needed by industry. This project can provide a foundation on which Northampton Community College and other community colleges can advance strategies that broaden participation in STEM careers, particularly in the skilled technical workforce. The project includes a three-year comprehensive plan to achieve: 1) an enhanced Information Security associate degree program curriculum that is aligned with Center of Academic Excellence 2-Year designation requirements and regional workforce needs; 2) a recruitment plan that attracts underrepresented students into the cyber security field; 3) a retention plan that supports completion, transfer, career placement and/or advancement; and 4) a faculty/staff recruitment plan that meets future enrollment needs by incorporating strategies to develop qualified and culturally-competent computer science faculty. The project has the potential to illustrate the positive impacts of collaborations between STEM faculty and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Specifically, the project may demonstrate that educating a globally competitive skilled technical workforce requires both an industry-driven curriculum and improvements to the educational outcomes of underrepresented students. In addition, it has the potential to demonstrate that a culturally competent learning environment and student support system can improve student success in highly technical fields such as cyber security. Thus, project outcomes will provide information that can be used by educational institutions that are struggling to enroll, engage, retain, and graduate diverse student populations in STEM fields. This project is funded by the NSF 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.