Date Approved

5-2-2023

Embargo Period

5-3-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Services & Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Monica Reid Kerrigan, Ed.D.

Committee Member 1

Ane Johnson, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Kri Burkander, Ph.D.

Keywords

Latinx undergraduates, summer bridge programs

Subject(s)

First generation college students

Disciplines

Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to explore self-authorship theory through the insights and experiences of first-generation Latinx undergraduate students who completed a summer bridge program. This qualitative critical single case study focused on participants' unique experiences during a state-funded summer bridge program at a public 4-year institution in New Jersey. This study found how participants summer experiences offered students the opportunity to begin to question, rethink, and reshape their own beliefs, values, or knowledge. Findings from this study suggest that students' experiences during the summer elicited a form of dissonance that helped them develop confidence, empathy, college culture awareness, and exposure to the diversity of other people. Furthermore, the research findings identified different experiences before college that demonstrated self-authoring ways. Hence, the participants' experiences during the summer bridge program contributed to their self-authorship process. This study provides higher education leaders insight into how different experiences during a summer bridge program contribute to the developmental needs of first-generation Latinx undergraduates.

Download

Share

COinS