Towards an understanding of the effect on summer programming on early engineering student outcomes

Starting in 2013, Large Midwestern University has conducted a yearly bridge program for 30-50 entering students from the state to get a head start on their transition from high school to university. The program, entitled Summer Scholars, consists of an eight-week residential program where students take a rigorous and intensive University course (e.g., chemistry, calculus) with other non-Summer Scholars participants, as well as a cohort-based elective (Engineering Projects, Research, or Professional Development). In addition to their coursework, students are mentored in successful student behaviors such as study skills and participate in activities that promote community-building and growth as engineers (e.g., local industry visits). While Summer Scholars is open to all students, in-state, underrepresented students (concerning race/ethnicity, gender, and rural counties) are targeted with special invitations and scholarships. Summer Scholars significantly differs from traditional summer bridge programs, as this program targets students looking to get a head start and experience university life before their first semester of classes, rather than targeting students seeking remediation coursework. The primary objective of this study is to understand the effect of this summer programming on GPA, retention, pathway changes, and sense of belonging. We have collected data from three cohorts of this program through surveys reporting students' department, current GPA, demographics, and others. These surveys were used to create a purposeful sample of maximum variation for qualitative interviews with seven students from Summer Scholars 2018. We conducted 60-minute, in-depth semi-structured interviews with these students to understand their experience in Summer Scholars and at the University since completion of the program. We analyzed the transcripts from the interview using an inductive approach to coding the data to uncover themes. Results suggest that the Summer Scholars program impacts areas of undergraduate engineering students' university experience in the intended ways.