The climate of STEM higher education programs can be unwelcoming for some minority populations. A state-funded program is trying to change that by providing mentors, relationship-building and financial assistance to California college students.
Cal-Bridge, a wildly successful bridge program that’s fostering diversity in California’s doctoral science programs, was conceived and powered by a couple of Fords.
The Cal-Bridge program secured $5 million in state funding to help underrepresented students pursue STEM degrees and leadership roles, boosting diversity in California’s tech and academic workforce.
Allie is an Astronomy student at San Diego State and wants to become a researcher at the NASA Ames Center.
As a first-generation college student, the Cal-Bridge program helped Jonathan’s collegiate journey, inspiring him to become a professor.
Being a Cal-Bridge scholar helped Du see the overlap between mathematics and other research like physics, computer science, and biology.
Diana’s advocacy in STEM coupled with her certification in cybersecurity deepend her technical expertise, and helped her to become more self-aware, empathetic, and effective at communication
Katy, PhD is a faculty member at CSUSB and an alumni of the Cal-Bridge program (she was in our first cohort of scholars)!
Mugen earned his bachelor of arts degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is working towards his PhD at UC Merced.
Vidya joined Cal-Bridge because of her best friend and is now a PhD student at UC Irvine!