Benefits and Challenges of Virtual Early Arrival or Summer Bridge Programs for Underrepresented Minority Students Majoring in STEM

Abstract

Benefits of summer bridge and early arrival experiences include the academic and social integration of incoming first-year students into their chosen institutions. The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities to re-imagine delivery of activities and engagement of incoming first-year students in summer bridge and early arrival experiences. In summer 2020, 100 historically underrepresented racial/ethnic minority incoming first-year students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors participated in The Ohio Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (OH LSAMP) virtual summer bridge or early arrival program at six of its partner institutions. The summer bridge and early arrival program is designed to promote and foster academic integration, social integration, and sense of belonging at and within the institution and LSAMP. We aimed to determine virtual programming effectiveness in meeting program goals at OH LSAMP partner institutions, during the COVID-19 pandemic, using students’ perceptions of academic integration, social integration, sense of belonging, and satisfaction. Overall, students were satisfied with program implementation and indicated agreement with academic integration, social integration, and sense of belonging. We discuss the findings and lessons learned in delivering summer bridge or early arrival experiences virtually, during a global pandemic.