”The only difference is now it counts:” Exploring the Role of a Summer Bridge Program in Shaping Student Expectations of Engineering

Abstract

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech hosts a five-week program for incoming students each summer, also known as a summer bridge program (SBP). As part of the program, first-time-in-college students become acclimated with the university setting and community prior to the start of their academic career. Students take non-credit courses in subjects that are historically challenging and required for first-year students, such as calculus, chemistry, and engineering fundamentals. Throughout the program, students also participate in informational seminars presented by various offices on campus to understand the range of opportunities and resources available to them. In light of participation occurring prior to the official start of the semester, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of this program in shaping the expectations that participating students have of the undergraduate engineering program. To address this purpose, we analyzed a) written student responses from a workshop activity, b) data from semi-structured interviews that occurred after the workshop, and 3) responses to an exit survey administered at the conclusion of the five-week program. Combined, these data sources shed light on expectations students developed by the end of the program. We found that students emerged from the SBP with varying degrees of expectations regarding the alignment between the SBP experience and a college semester in engineering. We also found that students’ experiences and observations led them to recognize that marginalization exists in engineering while they also viewed engineering as a level playing field. We uncovered that when asked how they would respond to challenging situations, students relied on what they learned about during the SBP. Finally, we conclude with questions based on a transition theory in student development for practitioners to consider when developing or implementing a SBP.