What I Did on Summer Vacation: Limited Impacts of Boot Camps and Summer Bridge Activities

• In Event: 58.063 - Developing Practitioners

Abstract

Boot camps and summer bridge programs are designed to teach graduate students a variety of research-related skills in a short period of time. Although these intensive training programs are increasingly popular, very little empirical evidence exists to permit their value to be assessed. This study aimed to examine the impact of boot camps and summer bridge activities on both socialization into the doctoral programs (e.g., sense of belonging, self-efficacy, institutional commitment, etc.) and research skill development for 294 biology PhD students across 53 U.S. institutions. The findings indicate that students’ prior experience with these training programs produced no significant differences on only one self-efficacy item, indicating limited effectiveness for boot camps and bridge activities as a doctoral education training method.

Authors

• David F. Feldon, Utah State University

• Soojeong Jeong, Utah State University

• Josipa Roksa, University of Virginia

• James Peugh, University of Virginia