Sense of Belonging in the Cybersecurity Field of Study

Robin A.M. Hensel; Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova; Sadaf Amna Sarwari

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT) Technical Session 5
Tagged Division: Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 20
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44196
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44196
Download Count: 139

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Paper Authors

biography

Robin A.M. Hensel West Virginia University orcid.org/0000-0003-1858-6452

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Robin A. M. Hensel, Ed.D., is a Teaching Professor in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University and an ASEE Fellow Member. Throughout her career, she has supported engineering teams as a mathematician and provided complete life-cycle management of Information Systems as a Computer Systems Analyst for the U.S. Department of Energy; taught mathematics, statistics, computer science, and engineering courses and served in several administrative roles within higher education; secured over $5.5M support for STEM education research; and led several program development efforts, including: a childcare facility at a federal research laboratory, an M.S. Molecular Biology/Biotechnology degree program at a small internationally-focused teaching institution, and a first-year engineering program and a B.S. Engineering Technology degree program at an R1 research institution. She has been recognized for her teaching, advising, and service, and as an Exemplary Faculty Member for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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biography

Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova West Virginia University orcid.org/0000-0003-4683-672X

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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, DoD, 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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Sadaf Amna Sarwari

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Abstract

ABSTRACT

Because cybersecurity professionals are crucial to increased and continuing national security, public safety, and economic prosperity, employment opportunities in cybersecurity continue to increase. To meet the public and private sectors’ need for cybersecurity professionals, universities are adding academic programs in Cybersecurity. One large, mid-Atlantic, land-grant R1 University with a vibrant cybersecurity program that offers a B.S. degree, academic minor, and an Area of Emphasis in Cybersecurity has received an NSF S-STEM grant to increase the number and diversity of highly qualified cybersecurity graduates by offering scholarships to high-achieving and economically challenged undergraduate students.

Past research has focused on grit and motivation of the NSF S-STEM scholars from this initiative, their retention and persistence through their educational program, and what elements of the S-STEM program they found most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals [1].

This research explores evidence of cybersecurity students’ feelings of inclusion or sense of belonging within their major. Because many of the benefits of the NSF S-STEM program are available to all cybersecurity professionals, we will consider the level of engagement of all cybersecurity students and the effect of that engagement on an indication of their sense of belonging. This research is important because sense of belonging is one characteristic that has been linked with increased retention [2] – and lack of sense of belonging has been linked with attrition – within many STEM majors, which struggle to serve a student body that is as diverse as the broader population of college-age people in the U.S. [3].

References [1] Paper presented at the2022 ASEE Annual Conference at the 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.

[2] Sophia Krause-Levy, William G. Griswold, Leo Porter, and Christine Alvarado. 2021. The Relationship Between Sense of Belonging and Student Outcomes in CS1 and Beyond. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER 2021), August 16–19, 2021, Virtual Event, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA 13 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3446871.3469748

[3] The STEM Labor Force of Today: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers. National Science Foundation and National Science Board, Science & Engineering Indicators. August 2021. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20212/participation-of-demographic-groups-in-stem. Accessed 11.16..2022.

Citation
Format

Hensel, R. A., & Goseva-Popstojanova, K., & Sarwari, S. A. (2023, June), Sense of Belonging in the Cybersecurity Field of Study Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44196

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - ABSTRACT

Because cybersecurity professionals are crucial to increased and continuing national security, public safety, and economic prosperity, employment opportunities in cybersecurity continue to increase. To meet the public and private sectors’ need for cybersecurity professionals, universities are adding academic programs in Cybersecurity. One large, mid-Atlantic, land-grant R1 University with a vibrant cybersecurity program that offers a B.S. degree, academic minor, and an Area of Emphasis in Cybersecurity has received an NSF S-STEM grant to increase the number and diversity of highly qualified cybersecurity graduates by offering scholarships to high-achieving and economically challenged undergraduate students.  

Past research has focused on grit and motivation of the NSF S-STEM scholars from this initiative, their retention and persistence through their educational program, and what elements of the S-STEM program they found most helpful in supporting their development as cybersecurity professionals [1].  

This research explores evidence of cybersecurity students’ feelings of inclusion or sense of belonging within their major. Because many of the benefits of the NSF S-STEM program are available to all cybersecurity professionals, we will consider the level of engagement of all cybersecurity students and the effect of that engagement on an indication of their sense of belonging. This research is important because sense of belonging is one characteristic that has been linked with increased retention [2] – and lack of sense of belonging has been linked with attrition – within many STEM majors, which struggle to serve a student body that is as diverse as the broader population of college-age people in the U.S. [3]. 



References
[1] Paper presented at the2022 ASEE Annual Conference at the 2022 ASEE Annual Conference &amp;amp; Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 

[2] Sophia Krause-Levy, William G. Griswold, Leo Porter, and Christine Alvarado. 2021. The Relationship Between Sense of Belonging and Student Outcomes in CS1 and Beyond. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER 2021), August 16–19, 2021, Virtual Event, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA 13 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3446871.3469748

[3] The STEM Labor Force of Today: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers. National Science Foundation and National Science Board, Science &amp;amp; Engineering Indicators. August 2021. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20212/participation-of-demographic-groups-in-stem. Accessed 11.16..2022. 

AU  - Robin A.M. Hensel
AU  - Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova
AU  - Sadaf Amna Sarwari
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Sense of Belonging in the Cybersecurity Field of Study
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/44196
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44196
ER  -