Unlocking Excellence: The Impact of Voucher Incentives on Cybersecurity Education

TL;DR

This study investigates how industry voucher incentives can motivate cybersecurity students, improve their career aspirations, and enhance educational outcomes through a portfolio-based assessment and industry certification opportunities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel voucher incentive scheme in higher cybersecurity education, linking industry certification success to academic grading and student motivation.

Findings

Voucher incentives significantly influence students' career aspirations.

Students using vouchers achieve higher certification success rates.

The approach enhances motivation and engagement in cybersecurity education.

Abstract

While voucher incentives have been popular for primary and secondary schools, they are less used in higher education. In this study, we leverage industry voucher incentives to inspire students in cybersecurity education (CSE). We adopt a 100% portfolio-based assessment strategy, where students can freely select their target grades in the investigated unit. We purposely design one of the high distinction (HD) tasks to be obtaining an industry certificate and provide vouchers to those who can accomplish a predefined set of tasks before a midpoint. The voucher recipients will use the voucher to access the industry certificate training materials and sit the certificate exam for free. Passing the certificate exam is one of the conditions for gaining an HD grade. Our survey and interviews reveal a substantial influence of voucher incentives on students' career aspirations. In light of the findings, recommendations on adopting voucher incentives in CSE or broader ICT education are offered for institutions and researchers.