ICEC Meeting: Placing STEM and cyber security teachers into industry

A directed discussion between Dr Eilish McLoughlan, Dublin City University, Ireland and Kyle Jones, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, USA: 21 May 2025 1100ET/1600UK Online

Introduction

This ICEC event aimed to explore one approach to aligning education and employment, namely the placement of teachers for short periods into industry to have an immersive learning and work experience.  It sought to examine the benefits and logistics of such an approach as an alternative or addition to other more common activities, typically:

·      Establishing industry advisory panels

·      Inviting industry speakers into educational institutions

·      Student placements with employers for short and long periods

·      Student industry visits

·      Conduct of industry relevant projects inside or outside the institution

·      Apprenticeships

It was in this context that Dr Eilish McLoughlan, Dublin City University, and Kyle Jones Sinclair Community College, Ohio, were invited to discuss their respective programmes for placing teachers and faculty into industry.

Outline of the STEM Teacher Internship Programme (STInt), Dublin City University

This programme was started 10 years ago.  It has structured learning objectives described as offering:

…pre-service and early career teachers the opportunity to engage with a programme of professional development, the purpose of which is to support them to develop their understanding of STEM in a real-world context, the many associated career opportunities while honing their subject ambassadorial roles skills. Through their placement and reflective practice, they will, in addition, enhance their transversal skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, leadership, communication, collaboration, digital and data literacy, as well as project management skills.  Students are supported to reflect on their learning over the course of the internship process and experience. The knowledge and skills gained during the STInt programme progresses the teachers own self-development as innovative professional practitioners with a commitment to lifelong learning while also enhancing their confidence as advocates and role models for STEM. 

In the first year 5 students were placed.  It has now grown to 70 students with a pool of 75 partner companies.  Ireland’s economy comprises many global names in IT and services, and a full list of participating companies can be found here.  To date 382 teachers have been placed who are ‘pre-service’ or at an early-stage career in primary and secondary education. Participants are welcomed who have completed or are completing (penultimate or final year) relevant programmes from across seven universities in Ireland.

The internship lasts for 8-12 weeks for a period agreed with the company.  This happens between June and August. Candidates go to work rather than observe and will complete projects for the company whilst in the company’s pay. The STInt programme therefore does not fund the salary of individuals on placement. 

Outline of NCyTE funded externship programme, run by Sinclair Community College (CC), Ohio.

Sinclair CC has placed 60 ‘externships’ across 36 US States in the last 5 years.  There are a further 25 externships enrolled this summer.  The candidates are in post-secondary roles in universities and community colleges.  Externships last for two weeks (up to 40 hours) and are funded by NCyTE.  NCyTE itself is funded by the National Science Foundation.

NCYTE’s Mission: The National Cybersecurity Training & Education (NCyTE) Center advances cybersecurity education in the U.S. by investing in technological innovation, resources, professional development and tools to support faculty, community colleges, and the workforce pipeline of tomorrow. 

The purpose of the externship programme is:

…to support incumbent faculty in both updating their technical skills and acquiring new and current knowledge of the workplace. Graduates of academic cybersecurity programs are highly sought-after by private industry and government, making it essential for faculty to have a comprehensive understanding of the workplace, work roles, and projects in which their students will be involved upon entering the workforce. By incorporating this knowledge into their teaching, faculty can produce better-prepared graduates.

Externships are defined as: 

Immersive experiences in a real-world setting (e.g., cybersecurity operations center) where faculty can gain current knowledge of cybersecurity techniques, tools, skills, and knowledge of the workplace with a minimum of 80 hours of participation.

The externship program is overseen by Kyle Jones at Sinclair Community College (on behalf of NCyTE), who will also verify the participation of the faculty participants. Upon successful completion of the program, faculty participants will be eligible for a stipend provided by NCyTE.

Like the Irish programme, immersive work in externships is emphasised.  For example, one faculty member worked during their externship to help restore a company after a ransomware attack. 

Benefits

Both programmes have undertaken evaluation of their programmes and observe how industrial learning and insight is brought into the classroom and the wider student careers activity of the institutions in which participants work. 

From the Irish experience, there is evidence for participants running clubs in schools and extending relationships with partner companies and wider industry. They also have a role in educating their colleagues regarding industry.  Furthermore, Dr McLoughlin argues that through their career a primary teacher will influence 1000 students, and a secondary teacher 5000 students.  Related to this, there are a number of key arguments she makes as to why companies should participate and pay for an internship for a teacher.  Firstly, their work should be paid for, but secondly and more decisively, companies agree that it’s a good idea that students are taught by teachers who have experience of the needs and culture(s) of industry.

Logistics

The terms internships and externships are chosen for a reason.  In the case of the United States, where regulations differ from state to state, internships are regarded as employees of the company and therefore need to be paid.  Externships do not, and participants benefit from federal NCyTE stipend. Naturally, duties of care and liability need to be understood in all programmes.

Although in Ireland, the programme does not fund industrial salaries, it does need funding to run itself.  A significant six figure sum is provided by Intel, two thirds of which supports the core team.  The remainder finances an alumni support network.   The programme is also supported by money from a range of publicly funded skills networks and other bodies.

Good relationships with industry are of course essential.  It was interesting that Intel was an important partner for both programmes in the US and Ireland. Sinclair CC insists that participants in the externships work with companies local to their institutions, so that they can prepare students for locally relevant employment and continue to deepen relationships.

Discussion

The approaches outlined above are situated in their own institutional and cultural context. These need to be considered in planning any similar programme elsewhere.  Of particular note:

• The programmes span primary to tertiary education in which interns/externs are in varying degrees of employment.  In the Irish context participants are close to completing their teacher training, or have completed it but are often not yet in full time salaried positions.  Faculty in tertiary education are already employed by an institution.

• Good use is made of summer periods for both programmes.

• There is significant difference in length of placement (8-12 weeks in Ireland, 2 weeks in US), which is perhaps a structural factor relating to employment. It raises the question of ideal placement length.

• There is a broader STEM agenda in Ireland for primary and secondary teachers, appropriate for a broader education given the stage in education.  The more specialised cyber security focus in the US is appropriate for specialised education.  Nevertheless, both programmes have much in common when it comes to experience of industry and transferrable skills.

• There is clearly a kind of pipeline for the development STEM and cyber skills when these two programme are taken together, although neither programme currently addresses all stages of education.  Nevertheless, one can see how an end-to-end pipeline might be developed in the future.  Related to this is that primary and secondary focus can mean students some way from being employed compared to those conducting tertiary educations.  This raises an interesting question regarding a funnel of industry relevance that moves from general issues to specific technologies and work context, yet draws on enduring ideas of work-based problem solving, trends in technology, society, products and markets, R&D, STEM curiosity and a wide variety of other factors.

• There was significant discussion on how this might blend with other approaches such as apprenticeships, and the coordinated activities across government on programmes such as UK Cyber First.

• Industry involvement was discussed in terms of indicators of collaboration, from the local companies with training and development objectives, to giant multinational companies engaging on education and training in different jurisdictions.  There is an international supply chain aspect to this discussion, as well as an affordability argument related to companies who engage, or can afford to engage, in long term shaping of skills and recruitment.

• Did participants ever get poached by industry?  Attempts have been made but resisted by dedicated participants who relish being professional educators!

• There was an appetite for further discussion of this topic, perhaps inviting Intel to participate alongside CSE Connect, NCyTE, ICEC and the institutions at the forefront of these initiatives.