The Antelope Valley Information Technology Bridge Pathway Program

Information Technology (IT) has become a critical part of daily life. The increasing size of the country's digital infrastructure has created an unprecedented demand for IT technicians, which is far outpacing the ability of educational institutions to supply graduates qualified to work in the field. To address the need for skilled IT technicians in California's Antelope Valley, the goal of this project is to create the Antelope Valley Information Technology Bridge Pathway Program.

This program will prepare students for IT certification as they also study for high school equivalency and will establish a pathway to further their education, and ultimately become part of the IT workforce. By establishing a pathway for aspiring technicians, this project will help address the critical shortage of qualified IT professionals and to meet the needs of non-traditional (adult education) students.

This project builds on existing research concerning bridge programs and will investigate the use of bridge programs across multiple institutions in IT education. This work will further contribute to our understanding of how multiple institutions can collaborate to establish academic pathways. Strategies to support underserved groups will be an integral part of the resulting program.

The results from this project will provide evidence-based activities that other institutions may adopt. The project will disseminate its findings both in written publication to a national audience and at prominent conferences. Project evaluation will include formative and summative inquiries that will provide feedback to inform continuous improvement.

This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.