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Most first-year engineering students are initially paired with non-engineering advisors and typically only enroll in one engineering course during their first year. However, undergraduate research is vital for enhancing critical thinking skills and boosting STEM persistence, as highlighted by Kuh (2008) and Brown et al. (2015). Recognizing this gap, we initiated "Sprouting Research from Day 1," which paired S-STEM scholars during their second semester of college with engineering faculty research mentors. Faculty mentors met bi-weekly with their mentees to discuss individual research interests and then every other week as part of a group session about broader research concepts. To gain insights into the motivations and expectations of the faculty mentors, a focus group was conducted at the end of the semester. The transcript of that meeting was analyzed using the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (Kaplan & Garner, 2017). Findings suggest mentors were motivated by the DEIB nature of this initiative, a modest financial incentive, and a desire to build deeper connections with scholars. They viewed the program primarily as a teaching opportunity, expecting scholars to be self-motivated and research inclined. Mentors noted that a better alignment of research projects with student aspirations and a more focused semester-end deliverable (e.g. REU application) would enhance the program's structure. Finally, the need for professional development for faculty was identified as crucial to scaling up the initiative. That suggestion led to the development of a five-part professional development workshop series on how to better engage first-year students in research which is currently being delivered. Feedback from this series will be analyzed and used to help foster a stronger research culture from the start of a student’s undergraduate engineering education. 

Summer bridges have for decades proven to be effective for retention of first year students entering four-year technical degree programs, however little is known about if or how they help students develop future professional role identities. This case study investigates the effect that a summer engineering bridge program has on the future engineer role identity of a single participant. The Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity, a holistic metatheoretical framework for motivation, engagement and learning through identity development, is used to analyze various sources of data collected before, during and after the summer bridge. Specifically, we investigate how the ontological and epistemological beliefs, purpose and goals, self-perceptions and self-definitions, and perceived-action possibilities reveal changes in one’s future engineer role identity. 

Leveraging Innovation and Optimizing Nurturing in STEM (NSF S-STEM #2130022, known locally as LION STEM Scholars) is a program developed to serve low-income undergraduate Engineering students at Penn State Berks, a regional campus of the Pennsylvania State University. As part of the program, scholars participate in a four-year comprehensive multi- tiered mentoring program and cohort experience. The LION STEM curricular program includes Engineering Ahead (a 4-week summer residential math-intensive bridge program prior to entering college), a first semester First-Year Seminar, and a second semester STEM-Persistence Seminar. Co-curricular activities focus on professional communication skills, financial literacy, career readiness, undergraduate research, and community engagement. The program seeks to accomplish four goals: (1) adapt, implement, and analyze evidence-based curricular and co- curricular activities to support, retain, and graduate a diverse set of the project's engineering scholars, (2) implement, test, and study through research and project evaluation strategies for systematically supporting student academic and career pathways in STEM, including development of STEM identity, (3) contribute to the knowledge base through investigation of the project's four-year multi-modal program so that other colleges may successfully implement similar programs, and (4) disseminate outcomes and findings related to the supports and interventions that promote student success to other institutions working to support low-income STEM students. The purpose of this paper is to analyze data from a repeated-measures design to provide a holistic narrative about the effects that the academic and support activities offered to LION STEM Scholars have on the development of their future-engineer role identity throughout their first year as an undergraduate engineering student. This paper presents data collected from semi- structured (Smith & Osborn, 2007) audio-recorded interviews from the first cohort of LION STEM Scholars (n=7) at three different time points (pre-summer bridge, post-summer bridge, end of first semester) as well as data collected from a written survey at the end of scholars’ second semester.