A Comprehensive Mentoring Model for Cybersecurity Education

Abstract

There has been a significant and fast growing workforce demand for qualified cybersecurity professionals. Cybersecurity education should help students to acquire professional knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) that are essential to success in cybersecurity careers. Mentoring should be an integral component of cybersecurity curriculum and learning activities. This research paper proposes a comprehensive model of mentoring for cybersecurity education that consists of the key components of career guidance, academic advising, as well as guidance and mentoring in research, certifications, service learning, ethics, professional skills and extracurricular activities. The goal of this research is to contribute an effective model with practical strategies, methods and experience for preparing cybersecurity professionals.