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  • Differential effects of bridge program participation on perceived belonging and peer support for STEM degree seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Title: Differential effects of bridge program participation on perceived belonging and peer support for STEM degree seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic
This NSF S-STEM Grantee poster examines the impact of participation in the Rice Emerging Scholars Program (RESP), Rice University’s comprehensive undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) summer bridge program, on student perceptions of university belongingness within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within a quasiexperimental design, the researchers examined whether RESP participants experienced different levels of belongingness utilizing two measures: The Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale, as well as a measure of perceived peer support. Additionally, the researchers examined whether family income impacted students, regardless of RESP program participation. Finally, researchers examined whether family income moderated the relationship between belongingness outcomes and program participation. Results did not support the hypotheses; there were no significant relationships found between RESP participation and sense of school membership (r = -.02, p > .05), RESP participation and perceived peer support (r = .05, p > .05), family income and sense of school membership (r = -.05, p > .05), or family income and perceived peer support ( r = -.06, p > .05), nor was evidence found for family income moderating the relationship between belongingness outcomes and RESP participation. Implications for future work in this area are discussed.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1565032
PAR ID:
10348873
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education
ISSN:
2332-368X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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