According to a 2020 study, 9% of First-Gen college grads earn degree in STEM. The numbers of First-Gen students continue to shrink when considering the graduate student pool, prompting us to ask: 

​What kinds of unique challenges and opportunities do FLI STEM graduate students and postdocs encounter when pursuing graduate education and life as a researcher?

Join us on November 5th at 10am-11am for coffee, pastries, and an engaging conversation with STEM graduate students and early career science researchers talking about their First-Gen and Low-Income experience and how it informs their academic and research path. The panel Breaking Barriers panel discussion will feature personal stories as well as insights on how to create pathways of success here at Stanford and beyond. 

Join us in the Press Building (which is right across the Stanford Humanities Center) for this insightful discussion! For more information on the Breaking Barriers panel, please register for the event using this Luma Event page here. 

 We will also have a zoom link available for those who cannot attend in person. To access the Zoom link--please register here. 

• Mia Pique, Master's student in Earth & Planetary Sciences Dept. 

• ​Josh Arens, PhD candidate in Chemistry Dept. 

• ​Carolina Torres Sanchez, PhD student in Oceans Dept. 

• ​Dr. Jessica Orozco, Doerr School Dean's Postdoc Fellow in Earth & Planetary Sciences Dept. 

• ​Dr. Elsie Carrillo, Doerr School Dean's Postdoc Fellow in Oceans Dept. 

This event is part of the 2025 Stanford First-Gen, Low-Income (FLI) week.

​Sponsored and co-hosted by the Stanford University First-Gen, Low-Icome Student Success Center (FLISSC) + the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Office of Access, Belonging & Community.