Cal-Bridge is Changing the Face of STEM – One Student at a Time
Published: October 1, 2018
Publication: CalPoly Pomona
Author: n/a
African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans combined earn between 70 and 80 Ph.D.’s annually in physics and astronomy. That’s less than 4% of the national total even though they represent 30% of the U.S. population.
The Cal-Bridge program is having a significant impact on this disparity and thanks to a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) the program will have an even bigger impact.
Cal-Bridge was started at Cal Poly Pomona in 2014 with the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minorities (URM) earning Ph.D.’s in physics and astronomy. The Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the program is Alex Rudolph, professor of physics and astronomy at Cal Poly Pomona.
“This grant will increase representation nationwide by 50%, all from one program in California.” Rudolph said. “CSU students aren’t always aware of opportunities for continuing their education. UC schools are the only public institutions in the state that grant Ph.D.’s in physics and astronomy so their participation was key and Cal–Bridge creates a bridge between the CSU and UC systems. The program provides the mentoring and financial resources students need to achieve their dreams of becoming physicists and astronomers.”
Initial funding provided support for about 12 students per year, and with the newly acquired $5 million NSF grant that number will grow to 40 to 50. The program just selected its fifth cohort of 27 scholars from 10 CSU campuses bringing the total number of scholars to 61.
The partnership between 15 CSU, nine UC, and 30 community colleges is what makes this program so powerful. Cal-Bridge scholars benefit from mentors at both the CSU and UC systems, and over 150 physics and astronomy faculty are participating in the program.
Scholars can receive up to $10,000 per year yet they cite mentorship as being one of the most valuable aspects of the program. Evan Nuñez, a Cal-Bridge scholar and physics major at Cal Poly Pomona said, “Cal-Bridge is preparing me to succeed, particularly through the mentorship. Having mentors pushed me to want to be in their shoes someday so I can inspire some students who might be going through a rough patch.”
“I firmly believe the adage that ‘talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not,’”said Soraya M. Coley, president of Cal Poly Pomona. “Cal-Bridge is an engine of opportunity that is providing transformative educational experiences for students across our state.”
The Co-PI on the grant, and College of Science Dean, Alison Baski said, “Cal-Bridge can become a model for expansion to other STEM degrees and to other states to create similar networks. I think it’s a superb model that could be scaled across the nation and have a concrete impact on the number of underrepresented students who are in STEM disciplines.”
