Summer Bridge Programs and the First-Generation Identity

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: Resilience, Equity, and Success for First-Generation College Students

Abstract

Despite its potential for upward mobility, higher education often remains a space of social reproduction for first-generation students, with many institutions overlooking how their backgrounds shape their ability to navigate within this field. In response to the barriers nontraditional students face entering and moving through higher education, some colleges and universities offer summer bridge programs to assist these students during their transition from high school through college. Summer bridge programs provide a structured format to initiate students into the college experience, often with the addition of workshops, classes, and networking opportunities aimed at increasing students’ institutional knowledge as they transition into college. Bridge programs also allow students to enter a space of community with faculty, staff, and peers of similar backgrounds. Limited research has explored how summer bridge programs exist in relation to their higher education institutions and how bridge programs specifically operate to support first-generation college students. This knowledge is crucial to understanding how to create affirming spaces for community and capital diffusion, thereby promoting first-generation students’ college success. This study offers insights into the community and capital-building processes of one summer bridge program for first-generation college students in a public, predominantly White institution in the South. Using triangulated data of ethnographic observations, surveys, and interviews, the study offers insight into the summer bridge program from the perspectives of multiple actors, including program staff, peer mentors, and participating students. The goals of this study are to analyze whether the summer bridge program serves as a counterspace to foster students’ community cultural wealth and the role of various institutional agents in reifying the counterspace. Preliminary findings suggest that the bridge program acts as a counterspace within the university, instilling a sense of belonging, affirming the first-generation identity, and producing (or solidifying) multiple forms of community cultural wealth.

Author

• Rachael N. Dominguez, Florida State University