Table 6 Participant suggestions for improving future iterations of the summer bridge program. The 29 interview participants were asked if they had suggestions for improving the program, and all except two provided specific suggestions. Coded suggestions are in order from highest to lowest frequency, and sample responses are provided for each code. Codes with frequency greater than one are shown (34 total coded segments)

Less time intensive (17)

“Maybe if we had a little bit longer honestly. Towards, I know toward the sixth week, I was getting a little bit tired because there was a lot of work, right? Wake up early and you had to sit in traffic going all the way home. Traffic here, that was probably the worst part of it but, it was what really tire out. Actually being here and doing the work was great. And I kind of wish we had a little bit longer to do it because everything felt like a little bit rushed, especially the ending, like, personal projects. If we had a little bit more time, I think that would have been better. Maybe get a little better fundamental understanding of things. So, if anything, maybe a little bit longer time to either slow down the pace, like half a step or, who knows, introduce more modules.”

Increased exploration of personal interests (4)

“Because I know for the [summer bridge program], when I did [it], there was a little bit a little part of it that involves some bioinformatics work with one of the professors and it so happens that that was my favorite part. And because of that, I planned on switching into bioinformatics and then I realized that I am more in computer science and that gave me the transition. Who knows, if I had never had the two weeks of bioinformatics work, I would have never realized that I am actually more fond of the, you know, the technological, you know, techniques or skills that you can develop in order to help people of different fields including biology. And so, giving people more experiences from diverse backgrounds might be useful.”

Less stressful (4)

“I remember being extremely stressed out, so just like the acknowledg[ment] of the students’ self-care and they need to take care of themselves too and it’s completely new. I mean how important is the researcher or like if they’re like not having any sleep? So it’s like that whole balance thing, I think it needs more balance.”

More social bonding (3)

“I would say maybe having the people in the cohort getting to know each other. Maybe like social events. I think that would help a lot because when you're in the [summer bridge] program, you're working with each other, so you kind of have to trust each other when it comes to like poking a cell or something like that. Just like having that confidence in each other would help by doing some social events”

Increased exploration of campus resources (2)

“I think one of the things that could be beneficial for the student [is] to really, I guess show all of the resources they could use”

More assistance in joining new lab (2)

“I would say if you can help the students be in a lab. If it’s part of the program to help the student be in the research lab at the end of the program, then that would be very helpful. Because for me, I had to talk to the professors and ask them if they would have open positions in their lab and it took me like 3 months, but if the [summer bridge] program would have helped me with that, I could have like gotten a paper published or something better in that lab.”

Increased stipend (2)

“If the stipends were a little bit more then it would be great, because it was really hard to budget during the summer with our stipends.”