Carroll School program fosters community for first-gen and high financial need students
A new initiative in the Carroll School of Management has been launched to enhance academic and career success for first-generation and high-financial need students, creating an intentional learning community with a focus on quantitative courses and programming designed to build cultural capital.
Led by Associate Director of Undergraduate Career Engagement Andrew Barksdale, the program provides a range of supports to help students navigate the academic, career, and cultural paths ahead.
“We are always focused on our students and their success,” said Senior Associate Dean for the Undergraduate Program Ethan Sullivan. “We constantly assess to see what the data tells us. What we found looking at prior years was that some students were struggling, especially in the quantitative courses.”
Andrew Barksdale
Those classes include Statistics, Introduction to Financial Accounting, Fundamentals of Finance, Operational Management, and Coding for Business, said Sullivan.
A review found first-gen students in previous years achieved grades that were below their overall GPA and compared to their broader CSOM class.
Barksdale has been teaching a course called Career Bridge since 2021, providing added exposure to job searching, networking, and the careers students are being prepared for by the Carroll School curriculum.
“We noticed a trend of students facing difficulties in quantitative subjects,” he said. “Through detailed analysis, we identified significant performance outliers and realized that students needed more than just academic training to succeed.”
Focusing on three pillars—Academic, Community, and Career—the program includes an additional one-credit seminar each semester, where students build confidence, time management, and study skills. These seminars are modeled after successful programs like ňňň˝Ö±˛Ąâ€™s Gateway Scholars for pre-med students, said Sullivan. The order of the five required courses is designed to ensure students are well-prepared for increasingly early recruitment cycles, especially in finance, accounting, and consulting.
The additional one-credit seminar focuses on the one quantitative course the students take together. This semester the course is Statistical Analysis, taught by Professor of the Practice of Business Analytics Linda Boardman Liu. In addition to the weekly lectures, Boardman Liu conducts the seminar on Fridays.
Ethan Sullivan
“The seminar brings us all together to focus on that subject, but I feel like I’ve been able to connect with Professor Boardman Liu on another level,” said Jeilyn Martinez ’28, who grew up in Brighton and graduated from Boston Latin School.
A key component of the program is building cultural or social capital through peer support and group activities. The Career Bridge seminar brings the students together to share experiences and learn from each other. Weekly sessions include talks by students who have taken the class previously, sharing insights and advice on navigating academics and social life.
Gabriel Galloza ’28, of Morristown, NJ, who is considering concentrating in both finance and accounting, said he and many of his peers face an added pressure.
“My parents sacrificed a lot for me,” said Galloza. “As first-gen students, especially at ňňň˝Ö±˛Ą, we have to perform well. Not because our parents are pressuring us, but because we want to pay our parents back for all they have done for us.”
Martinez agreed. To earn money and help her family, she started her own business in high school.
“Like many Hispanic students, growing up I was the translator for my parents. I would never ask them for money. I started my own business to help pay the bills. Family is a big motivator for me,” said Martinez, whose experience building her business led her to concentrate in marketing.
The program also fosters a sense of community through various outings and social events, such as ice cream socials, Red Sox games, Boston Duck Boat tours, apple picking, and formal dinners. These activities aim to reduce isolation, broaden the University experience, and offer some fun.
For Maya Bahr ’28, the ňňň˝Ö±˛Ą campus and Boston in general are a lot different than her hometown of Houston. She has found in the cohort a tight-knit group of friends that has smoothed the transition to New England and college life.
“It makes me feel like I am in an equitable community,” said Bahr, an accounting student on the CPA track. “ňňň˝Ö±˛Ą is primarily a white institution and sometimes it feels like you’re surrounded by people from very different backgrounds. That’s not always the case, but it can be the feeling. I love the opportunity to be around students—first-gen, low-income or working class, AHANA—who are like me. We can talk to each other and the Carroll School has helped us do that. I have made some amazing friends and already done some things I would never have done if I went to a different college.”