Summer Policy Immersion Program

Program overview

The Summer Policy Immersion Program equips high school students with a foundational understanding of the policymaking process and the skills necessary to develop and implement public policies. Through a blend of lectures, group discussions, and an immersive hands-on project, students will refine their skills in evidence-based survey design methodologies. They will learn techniques to identify compelling policy issues, such as addressing challenges of climate change, education, and technology, adapting to new forms of urban transportation, and how to translate these issues into data points for qualitative and quantitative evidence analysis. Additionally, the students will focus on translating this analysis into actionable outputs, including graphical presentations and executive summaries. The students will also have the opportunity to explore their interest in pursuing careers or undergraduate and graduate degrees in public policy.

Location

Virtual

Language

English

Duration

2 weeks

Program Start

July 12, 2024

Program End

Aug 1, 2024

Learning Outcomes

- Understand the foundational concepts of public policy, including the significance of adopting an evidence-based approach in public policy thinking and decision making.
- Gain an introduction to statistics and research methods used in public policy, including the design and conduct of surveys.
- Engage in critical thinking and basic policy analysis.
- Learn to use Excel for data analysis, including analyzing survey results and creating graphical data representations.
- Implement learning in a real policy inquiry project by developing research questions on a public policy topic, designing suitable survey questionnaires, conducting data collection and analysis, and presenting findings.
- Enhance readiness and confidence to pursue degree programs and careers focused on policy.

Who Should Attend?

Mawhiba High School Students

High school students (grades 11 and 12) registered in Mawhiba (King Abdulaziz & his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity).

Knowledge in Mathematics

Students who have intermediate knowledge in Mathematics.

Proficiency of written and spoken English

The program will be delivered in English. Applicants should be proficient in written and spoken English.

Faculty

Dr. Susan Mayer

Susan E. Mayer, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the College, served as dean of Harris from 2002 to 2009. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on the measurement of poverty, the effect of growing up in poor neighborhoods, and the effect of parental income on children's well-being. She is currently doing research on intergenerational economic mobility and on using behavioral insights to help low-income adults become better parents. Mayer has been a member of the Institutes of Medicine, National Research Council, Board on Children, Youth and Families, the Board of Directors of Chapin Hall Center for Children, and the Board of Advisors for the Pew Charitable Trust Economic Mobility Project. She has also been a member of the General Accounting Office Educators' Advisory Panel, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics Panel to Review U.S. Department of Agriculture's Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger, and the Committee on Standards of Evidence and the Quality of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Mayer has an honorary Doctor of Laws degreed conferred by Lake Forest College. Mayer is the past director and deputy director of the Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research. She has served as an associate editor for the American Journal of Sociology.

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Rohen Shah

Research Fellow at the University of Chicago and Ph.D. student at the Harris School of Public Policy, where he studies how tools from behavioral economics can be leveraged to improve outcomes in education, voting, and entrepreneurship.

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