2014 March • Vol. 5 • No. 1 acm Inroads 53
cybersecurity
education
Millions of dollars in federal and private investment have been
spent on the development of competitions such as CyberCIEGE
from Naval Postgraduate School; CyberPatriot sponsored by the
Air Force Association using CyberNEXS developed by SAIC; Cy-
berLympics developed by EC Council; Cyber Quest and NetWars
developed by The SANS Institute; DC3 Digital Forensics Chal-
lenge from the DoD Cyber Crime Center; and Panopoly devel-
oped by University of Texas, San Antonio. Some educators and
sponsors endorse cyber competitions as a strong, positive influence
on career choice for several reasons. First, the competitions may in-
crease the awareness of the meaningful and challenging work per-
formed by cybersecurity professionals that may lead to increased
aspirations to pursue a cybersecurity career. Second, the competi-
tions may help participants develop a sense of self-efficacy in per-
forming the work [2]. Third, the combination of meaningful work,
and a belief in developing competence, can create a sense of em-
powerment that has been associated with conversion of vocational
interest into an intention to pursue a career. Finally, competitions
may provide challenges that are well aligned with a person’s ability,
thereby encouraging emotional involvement in autotelic activity
that indicates engagement in a profession [10].
Empirical studies of the effectiveness of cybersecurity competi-
tions is lacking, and evidence from computer science and math-
ematics competitions yielding increased interest in STEM careers
has been mixed. Some case studies of immersive educational simu-
lations support the view that hands-on activities engage the par-
ticipant, and in doing so, facilitate situational learning and transfer
of skills to the real-world [5]. However, in other cases competitions
may have the opposite effect. The anxiety caused by the failure to
win may engender doubts about the ability to perform well in the
profession. For example, in a study of Second Life as an immer-
sive education simulation tool, Cooper [4] found that simulation
systems only led to engagement when the participant’s skill level
was already high. These results suggest that competitions may only
be effective for students with existing skill sets that closely match
those required by the competition. Rather than increasing engage-
ment in cybersecurity careers for larger numbers of students, com-
petitions may only assist in enhancing the interest of those select
few who have already developed reasonably high levels of skill.
Furthermore, studies of interest, developed in other STEM disci-
plines through hands-on activities, suggest that cyber competitions
may have limited impact on fostering career interest or altering
career intentions [8].
Participation is one way to measure the participant aware-
ness and interest in cybersecurity competitions and careers. The
number of students participating in cybersecurity competition
and challenge programs are growing exponentially, providing
some support for claims that they are increasing the numbers
ENGAGING LEARNERS
IN CYBERSECURITY
CAREERS: LESSONS
FROM THE LAUNCH
OF THE NATIONAL
CYBER LEAGUE
David H. Tobey, Portia Pusey,
and Diana L. Burley
E
ducators and sponsors endorse competitions as a strong, positive influence on career choice. However, empirical
studies of cybersecurity competitions are lacking, and evidence from computer science and mathematics
competitions has been mixed. Here we report initial results from an ongoing study of the National Cyber League
to provide a glimpse of the role of competitions in fostering cybersecurity career engagement. Preliminary results
suggest that cyber competitions attract experienced individuals who will remain in the profession for the long-term,
but future research is needed to understand how cyber competitions may engage women and those new to the field.
