Cyber tigers: motivation and learning achievements of girls from a cybersecurity study program

Youth cybersecurity study programs in Estonia fail to prevent drop out of a substantial percentage of females. This exploratory case study identified key variables that motivated participants to remain in the CTF Cyber Academy for Girls. The motivational variables examined belonged to three categories: academic aspects of the program, sociocultural perceptions of communicational and cultural aspects, and psychological aspects e.g. interest in cybersecurity. The response ratings and frequencies of these variables were compared between two groups: those who graduated and those who did not. The results of this study show that learners who participate in these programs may have different motivation-based learner profiles. One way to address the high dropout rate is to employ varied teaching methods, different types of tasks, and diverse communication opportunities to offer various learning possibilities for different learner subgroups.