Graduation Date
Spring 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Public Sociology
Committee Chair Name
Michihiro Clark Sugata
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Joshua Meisel
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
First-generation, Low-income, First-year students, Sense of belonging, Orientation programs, STEM, Persistence
Subject Categories
Sociology
Abstract
This mixed-methods project examines the role of the Educational Opportunity Program and Student Support Services (EOP/SSS) first-year orientation programs, particularly STEM Summer Bridge, in supporting feelings of belonging and persistence. While institutional efforts often frame student success through metrics such as retention and concepts like sense of belonging, this project interrogates how these are experienced and understood by students themselves. Quantitative analyses compared one-year persistence rates between STEM Summer Bridge participants and multiple comparison groups across three cohorts (2022–2024). Results showed no statistically significant differences in persistence; however, STEM Summer Bridge participants demonstrated persistence rates comparable to or slightly higher than peers with similar majors, parental education and socioeconomic backgrounds. Survey findings indicated high levels of satisfaction with EOP/SSS services, that students felt like they could be themselves on campus, had confidence interacting with faculty, and showed early engagement with campus resources. However, students expressed ambivalence about feeling a broad sense of belonging in the focus group setting. Focus group data provided critical context for these findings. Students described STEM Summer Bridge as valuable for building peer relationships, facilitating informal faculty interactions, and offering hands-on academic and place-based experiences. Importantly, participants articulated belonging as a spatial and relational process tied not only to campus spaces, but to navigating the surrounding community. Participants reported feeling supported and connected within specific spaces while simultaneously experiencing a sense of outsiderness at the institution and in the local community and expressing a desire for programs like EOP/SSS to help bridge this. This project argues that first-year orientation programs are most effective when they expand beyond bureaucratic navigation and relationship-building to include geosocial orientation to place.
Citation Style
ASA
Recommended Citation
Silver, Elizabeth Rose, "Rethinking belonging in first-year student support: A mixed-methods evaluation of EOP/SSS programing at Cal Poly Humboldt" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2573.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2573