ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Aligning Cybersecurity Higher Education with European Skills Frameworks: Insights from Master's Programmes in Sweden
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hogskolan i Skovde, Skövde, Sweden
- 2Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
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Cybersecurity has become a central component of modern digital societies, and the demand for professionals with advanced skills continues to grow. This article discusses the background of cybersecurity education, the role of frameworks in structuring learning outcomes, and the rapidly evolving requirements of the cybersecurity field. Through document analysis of 91 courses across 11 Swedish universities and interviews with seven program coordinators, the study identifies key strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement in Swedish cybersecurity education. Findings show that while Swedish programs collectively cover all ECSF roles, they differ significantly in depth, specialization, and methodological approaches. The study concludes that a stronger alignment with ECSF, more structured curriculum planning, and increased industry collaboration would improve the readiness of graduates entering cybersecurity careers. To structure these insights, the article applies a four-level analytical framework, the ECSF-based Cybersecurity Curriculum Alignment (ECCA) Framework, which comprises policy frameworks, programme design, curriculum content and institutional conditions...
Keywords: curriculum mapping, Cybersecurity education, European Cybersecurity Skills Framework, higher education, Skills frameworks
Received: 16 Dec 2025; Accepted: 06 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Behzadi and Habibipour. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Abdolrasoul Habibipour
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.