National Landscape

Data collected from 2016-2020 showed that underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities (URM) made up only ~11% of total graduates from dual-degree MD/PhD programs, and Latino-specific MD/PhD percentages are lower than this. Since then, national MD/PhD enrollment of URM students has shown almost no growth in the last decade. In fact, Latinos are underrepresented at every stage of the physician and scientist pipeline (medical school, doctoral programs, faculty) relative to their ~18–20% share of the U.S. population (Acosta et al., 2023; Alaina et al., 2020). While MD/PhD programs are intensely competitive programs to get into, the same lack of representation can be seen among Latine students in PhD-only programs. In 2023, a study reported that Latinx students earned only 8% of U.S. doctorates (4,815 of 57,862) (Santa-Ramirez et al., 2025), with ~7.8% being STEM PhD graduates. The barriers influencing these numbers remain largely the same over the years: finances, limited knowledge of graduate school, a lack of mentors, and imposter syndrome. 

Lack of Money and Knowledge Prevent Latinx Students from Pursuing STEM

Financial constraints are a typical barrier that impacts whether Latinx students even consider a career in STEM (Ramirez, 2013). Many undergraduate students have to work part-time jobs while being expected to excel in STEM courses. STEM PhD programs also suffer from funding issues that can be intimidating to Latinx students who seek financial stability rather than higher education. In addition to these financial constraints, first‑generation Latinos often have limited knowledge of graduate school, an unclear understanding of the PhD application process, and weaker professional networks to lean on (Martinez, 2018). Thus, early and explicit information about graduate school, role models (including Latinx faculty), peer communities, and structured application support programs can significantly increase the number of Latinx students applying to STEM PhD programs (Millett & Nettles, 2006). Structured university programs that provide funding to the student and a better understanding of the STEM pathways are often limited and underapplied by students.  

Paid Research Experiences and Culturally Competent Mentorship Make a Difference

Structured programs at institutions of higher education are often the answer for many Latine students in STEM majors to pursue their dream careers. Strong undergraduate research experiences and multiple mentored research summers increase intent to pursue a STEM PhD (Frederick et al., 2021). Some of the nationally recognized programs for STEM students include the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and the Ronald E. McNair Program. In the state of California, the UC LEADS program requires scholars to work on a research project year-round under the supervision of UC faculty and to complete a summer rotation at different UC campuses. Faculty-mentored research experiences can increase Latine students’ interests in applying to STEM graduate programs and introduce them to thinking about graduate school for the first time (Morales et al., 2021). Culturally competent mentors who met frequently with Latine students as part of a study showed that mentees increased their interest in pursuing graduate school (Morales et al., 2021). 

Community Cultural Wealth

For educators, frameworks are essential sets of tested principles that guide our day-to-day practice. Back in 2005, current UCLA professor and recognized education scholar Tara J. Yosso, introduced the concept of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) as a counternarrative to viewing certain underrepresented groups as underprepared or lacking. This asset-based framework has been foundational for many education practitioners, as many of its elements could easily be infused into mentorship styles and mentorship program structures. Yosso presents different sources of capital that each person has to foster their success: aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant (Yosso, 2005). In an evolving and competitive STEM environment, experiences unique to someone’s specific context can make a difference. Latine students who embrace simple actions that require self-motivation and initiative, like applying for an internship or finding mentors while in college, will run into these unique powers (or, as Dr. Yosso would say, sources of capital) to trace their own path to success in STEM. 

A common narrative among first-generation Latine students finding their path at universities across the country is that no one in their immediate family had a STEM background. Even without direct guidance or exposure to STEM careers from their relatives, Dr. Yosso reminds us that family sacrifice, for example, becomes aspirational capital and that these students have other assets that make them unique in their pursuit of a STEM degree.  It takes one mentor to point out that lived experiences are valuable, and to center students  in the construction of a STEM identity. These students are often among the most adaptable, have a strong sense of work ethic, are professional, and tend to be focused on lifting others up. Mentorship must instill intentional reflection and allow space and time for students to process their lived experiences. Mentors must intentionally recognize Yosso’s sources of capital as ways to amplify their mentees’ assets. The benefits for STEM students are especially evident in areas such as belonging and persistence. Students see themselves as scientists, they feel valued by their contributions, and they believe their background adds something meaningful. Students succeed when their experiences are recognized as assets, not as deficiencies to be fixed.  

Call to Action: Each one, teach one

Over the last 3 years, Quetzal has served as the Graduate Advocate for the UC LEADS program at UC San Diego. He has personally mentored many students throughout the year and during the summer who are interested in MD, MD/PhD, or PhD programs. Quetzal meets with students to discuss their goals and helps them make a plan to pursue them. He spends hours working with students to refine their personal statements for graduate school applications and organizes mock interviews to prepare them for their PhD interviews. If a student needs help putting a poster together for a conference or advice on the timing of graduate school applications, Quetzal is there to support them and serve as a resource they can count on.  Playing a small part in a student’s success story is what he finds most rewarding about his role in UC LEADS. When one of Quetzal’s mentees tells him that they’ve gotten into their dream MD, MD/PhD, or PhD program, it fills him with joy. Knowing firsthand how hard it is to be accepted into one of these programs, he is reminded that dreams come true if you put in the hard work, believe in yourself, and have people helping you along the way. Therefore, Quetzal makes it a habit to always ask his mentees for one favor before going on to graduate school: serve as a mentor and encourage other Latine students to pursue their dreams in STEM - remind them always that sí, se puede.

The current generation of Latine students is faced with a college environment in which programs aimed at promoting diversity in STEM, like the MARC program that Quetzal benefited from, have largely been defunded. Thus, our call to action is to every Latine who has defied the odds to have a career in STEM: your community needs you now more than ever. It is during this time that it is imperative that our Latine STEM professionals come together and actively engage in mentorship opportunities. Helping your community is a research purpose. It takes a lot of hard work to become a doctor, scientist, or other STEM professional. But if you made it, reach back and pull someone else up. Do not just aspire to make a living but rather use your position to make a difference as a mentor to the next generation of Latine professionals in STEM. Each one, teach one.

About the authors

Edgar Beas, M.A. Graduate Officer and Mentor at the University of California, San Diego and doctoral student in Higher Education at CSU Fresno, focused on advancing access to Graduate Education and building STEM talent pipelines. eabeas@ucsd.edu 

Quetzal Flores-Ramirez, MD/PhD student at the University of California, San Diego, serves as a mentor to undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students pursuing higher education in STEM. qfloresramirez@ucsd.edu

Citations

Acosta, M., Chandra, S., Li, S., Yoon, E., Selgrade, D., Quinn, J., & Ardehali, H. (2023). The impact of underrepresented minority or marginalized identity status on training outcomes of MD-PhD students. BMC Medical Education, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04399-7.

Alaina, O., Ynalvez, R., & Ynalvez, M. (2020). Factors That Limit Hispanic Representation in Medical Education: A Review of Hispanic Underrepresentation in Medical Education. The FASEB Journal, 34. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06246.

Santa-Ramirez, S., Israni, V., & Lathan, I. (2025). Swimming Against the Current: Latinx Doctoral Student Experiences Through a Bioecological Lens. International Journal of Doctoral Studies. https://doi.org/10.28945/5589.

Ramírez, E. (2013). Examining Latinos/as’ Graduate School Choice Process. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 12, 23 - 36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192712452147.

Martinez, A. (2018). Pathways to the Professoriate: The Experiences of First-Generation Latino Undergraduate Students at Hispanic Serving Institutions Applying to Doctoral Programs. Education Sciences, 8, 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8010032.

Millett, C., & Nettles, M. (2006). Expanding and Cultivating the Hispanic STEM Doctoral Workforce. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 5, 258 - 287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192706287916.

Frederick, A., Grineski, S., Collins, T., Daniels, H., & Morales, D. (2021). The Emerging STEM Paths and Science Identities of Hispanic/Latinx College Students: Examining the Impact of Multiple Undergraduate Research Experiences. CBE Life Sciences Education, 20. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-08-0191.

Morales, D., Grineski, S., & Collins, T. (2021). Effects of mentor–mentee discordance on Latinx undergraduates’ intent to pursue graduate school and research productivity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1499. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14602.

Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006