Joseph Francisco, a black chemistry professor at Purdue and past president of the American Chemical Society, has a PhD from MIT. He says his undergrad students are always telling him, “I got to think about a job.”
“With first-generation college students, there is enormous pressure,” Francisco says. “Without a mentor who can tell you about what to expect beyond undergrad, who can explain what are the opportunities after a postgraduate degree, they just stop at a bachelor’s degree.”
Francisco mentions another source of pressure affecting black STEM students: isolation.
In 1981, Francisco was studying at MIT when he heard about a national organization for black chemists. He went to its convention, in Chicago.
“It was incredible,” Francisco remembers. “I remember having the feeling, ‘you are not alone.’ That sense of isolation can be powerful.”