Building Research, Teamwork and Professional Skills in an Engineering Summer Bridge Program: Reflections Towards an Allyship Model

Abstract The RAMP summer bridge program in the Francis College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell began in 2018 to increase the number of women enrolling in engineering majors and prepare them for leadership. Over the last six years the program has invited all students who were interested in broadening the participation of women and students of color in engineering degree programs to participate in RAMP. High school juniors and seniors nominated by their teachers as potential advocates have participated during the last two years. To date, 107 students have completed the summer bridge. They are currently enrolled in various engineering majors across the four years of the undergraduate engineering degree pathway, in graduate school, or in the workforce. An analysis of student reflections from exit interviews of graduating students from 2018 and 2019 cohorts and journal entry data collected from students from the recent 2023 cohort is presented in this work. The themes emerging from this analysis show that both graduating students and current students seek to strengthen the RAMP community beyond the summer program. Their recommendations point to the need for continuing support in both personal achievement and for advocating the needs of their peers. With over a hundred RAMP participants now established across the engineering majors and the workforce, these recommendations will be integrated in the participatory action research framework that anchors the design of RAMP. We will address the training of juniors and seniors as allies and advocates to the newer cohorts, and engage RAMP alumni, thus establishing an agile model that is responsive to and supported by the program participants.