Increasing Diversity of Computing Course Participation Using a Summer Bridge Program
Elías Fernández González, Kate Atchison · 2024
For many underrepresented groups, attending a large university and immediately being able to acclimate and succeed is a tall task. Many students come to campus interested in computing but do not have the prior experience to know what path they want to take or have the necessary content knowledge to feel capable of taking on their first computing course. Additionally, without prior experience in computing, knowing how to select a specific computing major and career is difficult to do while already feeling behind. The Break Through Tech Guild program at the University of Maryland is a summer bridge program that is a key part of a national initiative to close the gender gap in computing majors on large university campuses. This specific program runs prior to the start of the semester for one week at a time. In the past three years, the program has served over 200 students from countless different majors and backgrounds, with the explicit goal of giving them the tools and community to be able to succeed in Computing. Students learn core coding concepts from a Computer Science instructor, tackle a real-world design problem, and explore careers in tech both through mentorship from industry professionals and from the campus. We have noticed significant amounts of students have continued to computing courses after the program.