Cyber Crime Investigators: Pathways from High School to Cybersecurity Careers for First Generation College-Bound Students (Abstract Only)

During summer 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice piloted Cyber Crime Investigators -- a 4-week pre-college program that aimed to expand the pipeline of NYC public high school students who enter college ready to pursue a path toward a profession in cybersecurity. The program was designed by a team of educators with expertise in academic skill preparation, college access, career guidance, student learning, and computer science. Using IDEO's Design Thinking for Educators as a learning framework, 42 rising high school seniors engaged in a six-stage process to understand and create solutions for complex problems in cybersecurity. To understand the many real-world applications of cybersecurity, students worked in teams as consultants for Floor Plan, a fictitious non-profit organization (modeled after Housing Works) that provides housing and healthcare services to homeless LGBTQIA teenagers. They employed Design Thinking protocols to develop a cybersecurity plan for the organization, guided by the NSA's First Principles of Cybersecurity. They worked on the challenge daily in "Lab." During this time, they learned technical skills, such as operating a command line and principles of networking, and they practiced other academic skills, such as writing, project planning, and public speaking -- all part of a foundational skill set for college success. They conducted interview and observation research during field trips and speaker visits and presented their final plans at a public competition judged by industry professionals during the program's last week.