Georgia State University Perimeter College LSAMP Transfer Bridge Program: A Path Forward for Broadening Participation in Stem

Summer Bridge Programs are increasingly becoming a popular strategy for Colleges and Universities to retain more historically underrepresented minority students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Retaining students in STEM disciplines is a necessary first step in order to accomplish the ultimate goal of diversifying the STEM workforce to create innovative solutions for today’s complex problems. In this paper, the authors describe an exploratory and descriptive study of the promising Georgia State University Perimeter College (GSU-PC) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Transfer Bridge Program. Most summer bridge programs are designed to facilitate seamless entry into college for incoming first year students, but the GSU-PC LSAMP Transfer Bridge program is designed to support the successful transition of underrepresented STEM students transferring from a 2-year to 4-year institution. Early results indicate that the Transfer Bridge participants were significantly more likely to enroll in a 4-year STEM program, receive a STEM bachelor’s degree, enroll in a post-baccalaureate STEM program, and receive a STEM post-baccalaureate degree than a comparison group of non-Transfer Bridge students at Georgia State University Perimeter College.

Variability in STEM Summer Bridge Programs: Associations with Belonging and STEM Self-Efficacy

To address the challenges facing racial minority students majoring in STEM during the transition from high school to college, NSF funded Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) programs throughout the country implement summer bridge programs. Bridge programs vary in their focus on professional development, academic support, research experiences, social activities, and in other areas, but all share an intention to support students during their transition to college. Beyond retention, little is known about how these varied summer bridge experiences impact student outcomes in the first year of college. This study first describes the variability in the summer bridge programs in the Alabama LSAMP Alliance and then examines how differences in students’ satisfaction with their experiences are associated with feelings of belonging and STEM self-efficacy, two factors associated with STEM retention. Students (N = 145) who attended an LSAMP summer bridge program were surveyed at three time points over the first year of college. Findings indicated that bridge programs varied in their offering of academic classes, academic support (e.g., study skills), research experiences, professional development, and planned social activities. Students attending HBCUs scored more favorably than students at PWIs on some measures; however, these differences could be accounted for by satisfaction with bridge experiences. Satisfaction with specific aspects of the bridge programs, especially orientation activities and getting to know other students, were associated with feelings of belonging and STEM self-efficacy. These relations were stronger for belonging. Over the course of the academic year, the relations between bridge satisfaction and belonging and self-efficacy weakened.

The Summer Bridge Program

Student retention is a consequential effort of all institutions of higher learning today. The survival of the institution is dependent upon the success of students in obtaining their degrees (Knox, 2005; Noel, 1978). In order to continue to grow a base of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and produce quality graduates, it is imperative that best practices in student success and retention be identified, documented and replicated. This study looked at the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Summer Bridge program results in STEM major retention and success in designated courses. Three years of the TLSAMP Summer Bridge were randomly chosen from the inception of the first joint TLSAMP Summer Bridge Program in 2004 and the last one in 2013. The years chosen for this study were 2008, 2012 and 2013. The following information was gathered for participants in the 2008, 2012, and 2013 TLSAMP Summer Bridge Programs: (1) Major, (2) If student returned to school after freshmen year (3) If a change of major after freshman year, ( (4) First English course grade, and (5) First Math course grade. TLSAMP Summer Bridge showed an indication to be a best practice for student retention and success in those targeted courses addressed in the bridge program. From a broader perspective, it can be inferred that what works for STEM majors can also work for other majors when tailored for them and the culture of the institution. Further study on the effectiveness and implementation of summer bridge programs on student recruitment and student retention is recommended.