A study to develop a consensual map of security expert knowledge structure

Security education at the tertiary level is still in its infancy, with limited consensual agreement on content requirement. The security industry is diverse and multi-disciplined, with practitioners originating from many disciplines. But security experts have a rich knowledge structure, although there has had limited research to map this knowledge structure. This limited mapping reduces the ability of tertiary educators to provide industry focused teaching and learning. The study investigated and critiqued international tertiary undergraduate security courses (N=104). Supported by both industrial and academic security experts, further analysis reduced the number of courses for content analysis (N=7). Course content was analysed and security concepts extracted. Concept extraction utilised linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) text and content analysis. Linguistic analysis categorised the more utilised security concepts, supported by subordinate concepts. The study presented a number of significant findings. According to the study, a large majority of the critiqued security courses did not effectively represent organisational or corporate security. A table of security categories (N=14) was presented and included security technology. The study appeared to indicate that security education should include all fourteen knowledge categories. A list of subordinate security concepts (N=2001) was also produced, with security technology (N=226) presenting primary technologies