I am... a College Graduate: Summer Bridge Programs Cause Identity Shifts I am... a College Graduate: Summer Bridge Programs Cause Identity Shifts. Karen Singer-Freeman & Linda Bastone Program Research students worked in small laboratory groups Academic students completed an interdisciplinary course and independent project All students resided on campus, engaged in community- building activities and attended workshops The summer culminated with a conference at which all students made formal presentations Method Participants 103 students from 7 community colleges 69 research, 34 academic Populations: Under-represented minority First-generation college student Demonstrated financial need Procedure Students completed the Twenty Statements Test (“I am _____”) during the 1 st and 5 th week. Coding Responses were collapsed into 4 composite scores: Positive Personality: An attribute that is a strength Negative Personality: An attribute that is a weakness Academic Self: Reference to academic status or plans, interests, or skills Future Orientation: Reference to future plans (including academic) and hopes Results We computed 2(Program: research, academic) X 2(Week: one, five) ANOVAs on the four composite scores Do intensive summer programs cause identity shifts? Yes. All students showed a decrease in Personality Focus (positive and negative) and an increase in Academic Self and Future Orientation Do research and academic programs differ? Yes. Research students reported more Positive Personality and Academic Self statements than Academic students Conclusions Students experienced identity shift over the course of a summer bridge program Students’ statements included increased references to Academic Self and Future Orientation Future Orientation statements reflected plans, hopefulness and expectations of future success We hypothesize that increases in Future Orientation may support student persistence Abstract We examined changes in 103 community college students’ self perceptions during an intensive summer experience. Participants completed the Twenty Statements Test during the first and last week of the program. Students showed a decrease in Personality statements and an increase in Academic Self and Future Orientation statements. We hypothesize that increases in Future Orientation may support student persistence. Introduction The federal government invests significant funding in programs designed to increase the number of students pursuing STEM degrees. Participation in high-impact summer research programs increases 4-year-degree completion It is unclear how these programs influence change Do intensive summer programs cause identity shifts? Do research and academic programs differ? We examined changes in students’ self perceptions that occurred over the course of a 5-week summer program. Data were collected during the summers of 2009 and Research and academic programs were housed at the same institution and recruited students from the same community colleges