The cybersecurity industry is facing a significant shortage of professionals to fill open positions, with a projected staffing shortage of 1.8 million jobs worldwide by 2022. Part of this shortage can be attributed to the underrepresentation of women in the field. This research addresses the gender gap in cybersecurity by exploring the perceptions…

In this paper we introduce an approach to cybersecurity education and helping students develop professional understanding in the form of a Playable Case Study (PCS), a form of educational simulation that draws on affordances of the broader educational simulation genre, case study instruction, and educational Alternate Reality Games (or ARGs). A…

Despite the strong, global demand for talented workers, higher than average salaries, and relatively low education requirements (bachelor's degree) for computing fields such as cybersecurity, there continues to be a pipeline issue with graduating enough workers educated in cybersecurity to fill the demand in the United States and globally…

Using the lived experiences of study participants, the purpose of the exploratory qualitative study was to explore collegiate cybersecurity instructors' qualities needed to maximize the engagement of Generation Z cybersecurity learners to successfully become cybersecurity specialists. This understanding is important in order to increase the…

People starting cybersecurity careers have three main avenues for achieving entry-level job qualifications: learning in-demand skills, earning industry certifications, and graduating with a college degree. Though people can pursue skills, certificates, and degrees together, financial and time constraints often make people focus their efforts to…

Despite multiple national, educational, and industry initiatives, women continue to be underrepresented in the cybersecurity field. Only 11% of cybersecurity professionals, globally, are female. This contributes to the growing overall shortage of workers in the field. This research addressed the significant underrepresentation of females in the…

Much prior research has examined the dearth of women in the IT industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of women in IT within the context of information security and assurance. This paper describes results from a study of a relatively new career path to see if there are female-friendly opportunities that have not existed…

The need for colleges to graduate students who understand computer security is growing. The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI; the National White Collar Crime Center; and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in the Department of Justice, reported more than 90,000 crimes in 2007, with reported financial losses of almost…

For the general public, the field of cryptography has recently become famous as the method used to uncover secrets in Dan Brown's fictional bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. But the science of cryptography has been popular for centuries--secret hieroglyphics discovered in Egypt suggest that code-making dates back almost 4,000 years. In today's…