2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering workforce development requires interventions that build technical competence and engineering self-efficacy (confidence in performing engineering-relevant tasks). Grounded in social cognitive theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this short paper reports outcomes from three pipeline-aligned, NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) summer programs implemented by the Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) in Summer 2025: FROST Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU; 10 weeks; n=6), HEART Research Experiences for Teachers (RET; 4 weeks; n=6), and a Summer Venture pre-college experience (3.5 days; n=10). Evaluation combined role-appropriate self-efficacy measures for REU and RET participants (pre/post) with satisfaction and open-ended feedback across all programs; Summer Venture used an end-of-program survey because the short duration limits interpretability of traditional pre/post change estimates. Participants across small, demographically diverse cohorts reported increased HVACR and sustainable engineering knowledge, high mentoring value, and strengthened confidence communicating technical ideas. Pre/post patterns indicated meaningful gains in REU research self-efficacy (notably presenting findings and independent project work) and RET engineering-teaching self-efficacy (guiding design processes and integrating engineering into curricula), with comparatively smaller gains in experimental design (REU) and facilitating hands-on design activities and STEM-career preparation (RET). Summer Venture participants reported strong mentoring and peer learning but only moderate confidence regarding engineering pathways, aligning with lower ratings for hands-on HVACR engineering exposure. Implications are provided for designing short-duration programs to strengthen self-efficacy through explicit mastery cycles, structured mentoring, and SCCT-informed pathway scaffolding.