Investigating the accessibility and impacts of cybersecurity programs on high-school girls’ long-term industry engagement

IF 1.6 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Information and Computer Security Pub Date : 2021-10-29 DOI:10.1108/ics-05-2021-0067

Mridula Shan, Jeong Yang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether having accessible cybersecurity programs (CPs) for high-school students affected girls’ long-term engagement with the industry, given that they already had interests in technology. Although much research has been done to evaluate how high-school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs retain girls in computing fields, it is necessary to see if this same long-term engagement exists in cybersecurity-specific programs. Design/methodology/approach In total, 55 members were surveyed from the aspirations in computing community regarding their experience in and accessibility to high-school CPs. A quantitative analysis of such responses was then undertaken using inferential statistical tools and chi-squared tests for independence. Findings The results showed that the existence of CPs alone are not influential factors in increasing long-term engagement with the field, showcasing that the high-knowledge barrier of CPs affects many students (even those with prior interests in technology). Instead, by having multiple occurrences of these programs and providing more cybersecurity resources to areas that lacked them, girls were more likely to report an increased interest in the field. Practical implications Such information can support future program leaders to develop effective, accessible and more targeted cybersecurity initiatives for students of various communities. Originality/value By analyzing the unique interactions of tech-aspiring women with cybersecurity, this exploration was able to demonstrate that women of different computing experiences face a shared barrier when entering the cybersecurity field. Likewise, in comparing these perspectives across different age groups, the investigation highlighted the development and subsequent growth of cybersecurity programming over the years and why such initiatives should be supported into the future.

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调查网络安全项目对高中女生长期行业参与的可及性和影响

本研究的目的是调查为高中生提供可访问的网络安全计划(CPs)是否会影响女孩对该行业的长期参与，因为她们已经对技术感兴趣。尽管已经做了很多研究来评估高中科学、技术、工程和数学课程是如何让女孩留在计算机领域的，但有必要看看在网络安全专业课程中是否也存在同样的长期参与。设计/方法/方法共有55名成员接受了调查，内容涉及他们在计算机社区的经验和对高中cp的可及性。然后使用推理统计工具和卡方独立性检验对这些反应进行定量分析。结果表明，CPs本身的存在并不是增加长期参与该领域的影响因素，这表明CPs的高知识障碍影响了许多学生(甚至是那些先前对技术感兴趣的学生)。相反，通过多次开展这些项目，并向缺乏这些项目的地区提供更多的网络安全资源，女孩们更有可能对这一领域产生更大的兴趣。这些信息可以支持未来的项目领导者为不同社区的学生制定有效的、可访问的和更有针对性的网络安全计划。独创性/价值通过分析有技术抱负的女性与网络安全的独特互动，这项研究能够证明，不同计算经验的女性在进入网络安全领域时面临着共同的障碍。同样，在比较不同年龄组的这些观点时，调查强调了多年来网络安全计划的发展和随后的增长，以及为什么这些计划应该在未来得到支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information and Computer Security COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

7.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Information and Computer Security (ICS) contributes to the advance of knowledge directly related to the theory and practice of the management and security of information and information systems. It publishes research and case study papers relating to new technologies, methodological developments, empirical studies and practical applications. The journal welcomes papers addressing research and case studies in relation to many aspects of information and computer security. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Information security management, standards and policies Security governance and compliance Risk assessment and modelling Security awareness, education and culture User perceptions and understanding of security Misuse and abuse of computer systems User-facing security technologies Internet security and privacy The journal is particularly interested in receiving submissions that consider the business and organisational aspects of security, and welcomes papers from both human and technical perspective on the topic. However, please note we do not look to solicit papers relating to the underlying mechanisms and functions of security methods such as cryptography (although relevant applications of the technology may be considered).