Exploration of a Bridge Program to Increase Student Understanding of Emerging Technological Fields

Bridge programs are common interventions colleges implement to improve student recruitment, retention, and performance. Key components are typically specific content instruction, tutoring, mentoring, and college orientation. This paper provides the results of a short-duration summer bridge program designed to increase student awareness of emerging technological fields in engineering technology (ET), specifically the semiconductor and data center industries. High school students in the summer bridge program were provided with information about NOVA’s ET programs, participated in hands-on activities around topics important to semiconductor and data center operations (DCO) technician careers, and met industry representatives through industry site tours. Student data includes participant changes in understanding of ET educational and career pathways, knowledge of OSHA and industrial safety, understanding of college success skills and strategies, and interest in ET careers. Results of the study demonstrated that students of all subgroups (e.g., gender, grade level, race, ethnicity) exhibited equivalent improvement in their understanding of ET education and career pathways while student outcomes in OSHA and college success skills varied by subgroup. Based on these results, the use of a short-duration bridge program is one mechanism for post-secondary institutions to increase awareness of emerging technologies and educational pathways to support careers in those technologies