Development of a Cybersecurity Professional Identity

Robin Hensel; Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: CIT Division Technical Session #2
Page Count: 19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41591
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41591
Download Count: 280

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Paper Authors

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Robin Hensel West Virginia University

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Robin A.M. Hensel, Assistant Dean for Freshman Experience in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University, leads a team of passionate faculty in the Fundamentals of Engineering Program who provide first-year students with high-quality, challenging, and engaging educational experiences to facilitate the transition to university life and prepare for success in their engineering majors and future careers.

Hensel holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on STEM teaching in higher education, and B.S. and M.A. degrees in Mathematics. Prior to joining academia, she worked with engineering teams and in project management and administration as a Mathematician and Computer Systems Analyst for the U. S. Department of Energy. She has over 30 years of experience teaching mathematics, statistics, computer science, and fundamental engineering courses as well as serving in several administrative roles within higher education. Throughout her career, Hensel has created a childcare facility at a federal research lab, coached middle school MATHCOUNTS students, facilitated STEM K-12 teacher training, built an undergraduate first-year engineering program at a large R1 research institution and a Molecular Biology/Biotechnology masters’ degree program at a small internationally-focused teaching institution, lived on-campus as a Resident Faculty Leader for an engineering-focused residence hall, and secured over $5 million in funding and support for STEM education research, focusing on student success, inclusion, and retention, and including funds for summer bridge programs and scholarships for underrepresented students. She has been recognized for her excellence in teaching, advising, and service, and as an Exemplary Faculty Member for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

An active ASEE member since 2005, Hensel has reviewed and presented papers, moderated sessions, planned division social events and regional conferences, and served for 10 years on the First-year Programs Division Executive Board, including as program and division chair.

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biography

Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova West Virginia University

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Dr. Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova is a Professor at the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical
Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. Her research interests are in software
engineering, cybersecurity, and data analytics, as well as in higher education focused on these areas. She
has served as a Principal Investigator on various NSF, NASA, and industry funded projects. She leads the
B.S. in Cybersecurity program and serves as Academic Coordinator of the M.S. in Software Engineering
Program at West Virginia University. She has served on program and organizing committees of many
international conferences and workshops.

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Abstract

Cybersecurity is a relatively new field in higher education and cybersecurity professionals are essential for protecting our nation’s infrastructure and ensuring public safety and national security. Cybersecurity employment opportunities in the U.S. are expected to grow much faster than the average growth of all occupations in the U.S. over the next decade [1]. Because of the strong employment outlook and the criticality of these positions to our economy and national security, universities are developing cybersecurity education programs. One large, land-grant, R1 university in the mid-Atlantic region has developed a new B.S. degree in Cybersecurity and an Area of Emphasis (AoE) in Cybersecurity for Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Biometric Systems Engineering majors. These educational initiatives aim to produce work-force ready cybersecurity experts who will fill the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals.

Past research has shown that the development of a positive engineering identity contributes to increased retention and persistence within engineering fields [2]. One goal of the NSF S-STEM ACCESS program is to increase student engagement with professional development activities to help students develop a positive professional cybersecurity identity. S-STEM scholars, however, are selected based on academic success and prior academic engagement which may influence their level of participation and persistence in their degree program. Three questions arise: (1) Are there early signs that ACCESS scholars will have higher academic achievement and persist at higher rates than non-ACCESS scholars among cybersecurity students? (2) Do students participating in the ACCESS program participate in more professional development activities than students in a comparison group?" and (3) What elements of the S-STEM ACCESS program do students find most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals?

This research will inform Cybersecurity educational programs about the elements which contribute positively to the development of a Cybersecurity professional identity, and whether or not student engagement in these activities may impact expected student retention and persistence as measured by the Grit survey. The Grit scale measures “the extent to which individuals are able to maintain focus and interest, and persevere in obtaining long-term goals.” [3, 4]. Used as a predictive indicator of expected retention and persistence, the Grit tool was employed to assess characteristics of nine S-STEM scholarship recipients and their peers in four courses: a freshman level introduction to data structures course with 139 students enrolled, a sophomore level computer system concepts course with 89 students enrolled, and two upper-level cybersecurity courses – “Secure Software Development” and “Practicing Cybersecurity: Attacks and Countermeasures” with 25 and 35 enrolled students, respectively. Since there were no first-year students in the first ACCESS cohort, results from the freshman-level introduction to data structures course may be less relevant for this study but were included as a baseline. Future cohorts are expected to have first-year students.

We also address the intentional selection bias of the S-STEM ACCESS scholar cohorts which may predispose them to have higher student success and participation measures. Student engagement programmatic elements are included along with results from the survey responses and typical student success measures with a goal to determine which activities and programmatic elements students find most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals and their persistence in the cybersecurity major. Because the group of S-STEM scholars is so small, we use qualitative analyses to assess their perspectives on whether and how S-STEM ACCESS program elements contribute to their professional development. Data from S-STEM ACCESS program participants suggest that the program supports scholars with respect to our measures of interest and that they found the technical and professional seminar series and opportunities to gain practical experience particularly helpful for their professional development.

Citation
Format

Hensel, R., & Goseva-Popstojanova, K. (2022, August), Development of a Cybersecurity Professional Identity Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41591

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Cybersecurity is a relatively new field in higher education and cybersecurity professionals are essential for protecting our nation’s infrastructure and ensuring public safety and national security. Cybersecurity employment opportunities in the U.S. are expected to grow much faster than the average growth of all occupations in the U.S. over the next decade [1].  Because of the strong employment outlook and the criticality of these positions to our economy and national security, universities are developing cybersecurity education programs.  One large, land-grant, R1 university in the mid-Atlantic region has developed a new B.S. degree in Cybersecurity and an Area of Emphasis (AoE) in Cybersecurity for Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Biometric Systems Engineering majors.  These educational initiatives aim to produce work-force ready cybersecurity experts who will fill the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals.

Past research has shown that the development of a positive engineering identity contributes to increased retention and persistence within engineering fields [2]. One goal of the NSF S-STEM ACCESS program is to increase student engagement with professional development activities to help students develop a positive professional cybersecurity identity. S-STEM scholars, however, are selected based on academic success and prior academic engagement which may influence their level of participation and persistence in their degree program.  Three questions arise: (1) Are there early signs that ACCESS scholars will have higher academic achievement and persist at higher rates than non-ACCESS scholars among cybersecurity students? (2) Do students participating in the ACCESS program participate in more professional development activities than students in a comparison group?" and (3) What elements of the S-STEM ACCESS program do students find most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals?

This research will inform Cybersecurity educational programs about the elements which contribute positively to the development of a Cybersecurity professional identity, and whether or not student engagement in these activities may impact expected student retention and persistence as measured by the Grit survey. The Grit scale measures “the extent to which individuals are able to maintain focus and interest, and persevere in obtaining long-term goals.” [3, 4].  Used as a predictive indicator of expected retention and persistence, the Grit tool was employed to assess characteristics of nine S-STEM scholarship recipients and their peers in four courses: a freshman level introduction to data structures course with 139 students enrolled, a sophomore level computer system concepts course with 89 students enrolled, and two upper-level cybersecurity courses – “Secure Software Development” and “Practicing Cybersecurity:  Attacks and Countermeasures” with 25 and 35 enrolled students, respectively.   Since there were no first-year students in the first ACCESS cohort, results from the freshman-level introduction to data structures course may be less relevant for this study but were included as a baseline.  Future cohorts are expected to have first-year students.   

We also address the intentional selection bias of the S-STEM ACCESS scholar cohorts which may predispose them to have higher student success and participation measures.  Student engagement programmatic elements are included along with results from the survey responses and typical student success measures with a goal to determine which activities and programmatic elements students find most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals and their persistence in the cybersecurity major. Because the group of S-STEM scholars is so small, we use qualitative analyses to assess their perspectives on whether and how S-STEM ACCESS program elements contribute to their professional development. Data from S-STEM ACCESS program participants suggest that the program supports scholars with respect to our measures of interest and that they found the technical and professional seminar series and opportunities to gain practical experience particularly helpful for their professional development. 

AU  - Robin Hensel
AU  - Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Development of a Cybersecurity Professional Identity
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41591
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41591
ER  -