A Meta-Analysis of STEM Bridge Programs at Four-Year Colleges

Many universities and colleges aim to increase the retention of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students through voluntary, university-sponsored, co-curricular programming. Bridge programs represent a common type of co-curricular activity and are often made up of additional coursework and skill-building activities designed to prepare students academically for STEM studies. Many Bridge programs are aimed at increasing the participation of students historically underrepresented in STEM. The design of bridge programs can vary quite drastically, as they may include or exclude different program elements, such as STEM-related workshops, faculty mentorship, and financial scholarships. In addition, the effectiveness of a bridge program on STEM major retention is influenced by the institutional context in which they are administered. Despite their popularity, few studies have sought to estimate the overall effectiveness of these programs on STEM major retention. This study isolates the effect of STEM-related workshops on its overall effectiveness on retaining STEM students. To study the overall effectiveness of STEM bridge program across various institutional contexts, we performed a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed literature by first performing a systematized literature review, and then combining and averaging relevant quantitative results into one overall odds ratio. We present the results of a meta-analysis on STEM bridge programs that provide workshops, and report on its effect on student STEM retention at the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 6-year marks. Search strings developed for this meta-analysis yielded 638 unique records from four databases. From these, 10 unique studies were selected for inclusion due to their relevance to this study and because they provided quantitative results that could be included in the meta-analysis. Results show that this subset of STEM bridge programs have a small effect on one-year STEM retention (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.250). Long-term effects are also limited and show a slight decreased effect by year six (OR = 1.244). While this research includes only a limited number of available studies providing quantitative data, this study highlights the potential of using meta-analysis methods to broadly analyze program effectiveness. Our results highlight the importance of purposeful STEM bridge program design and how it may impact the retention of future STEM students. Future meta-analysis work on STEM bridge programs will look at the combined and isolated effects of other program elements, such as faculty mentorship, on STEM student retention.