Career Pathways Program Extends a Guiding Hand to High School Students

Story by:

• Triveni Sheshadri- trsheshadri@ucsd.edu

Media contact:

• Inga Kiderra- ikiderra@ucsd.edu

Topics covered:

• Career Pathways
• Community Engagement

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For many high school students whose parents and siblings have not attended college, graduating from a four-year university seems like an unattainable goal. College entrance exams, scholarships and majors that lead to successful careers are typically not part of conversations around the dinner table. Recognizing the critical need for information and guidance about both college and careers, UC San Diego launched the Career Pathways Program (CPP) in 2024 to support high school students in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Since then, CPP Director Francisco Salinas and his staff of advisers - all UC San Diego students - have been working hard to help high school students believe in themselves and in their potential to go to college and pursue a career. They provide crucial guidance to help them learn more about their field of interest, whether it's health, business, education or engineering.

In the one year since its inception, CPP has sparked motivation and interest among the nearly 300 students it serves. Salinas recalled one student who came into the program thinking that college was not within his reach. That changed after he attended two CPP events on campus designed to familiarize high schoolers with UC San Diego and its offerings in various fields.

"He was soon talking about becoming a doctor," Salinas said. "His comment was that we helped him believe in himself. The motivational piece is a big part of what we do. We tell our students 'You might not see it in yourself, but we see it in you.'"

The CPP initiative is under the umbrella of CREATE (Center for Research on Education, Assessment & Teaching Excellence) in the UC San Diego School of Social Sciences. CREATE leads the program through the EAOP (Early Academic Outreach Program) in collaboration with UC San Diego's Division of Extended Studies and UC San Diego's Enrollment Management - working especially. Salinas said, with EM's outreach and community engagement director, Raquel Aparicio.

The K-16 Collaborative: Border Region Talent Pipeline financially supports the program to help high school students learn about careers, pursue related college degrees and thus gain entry to well-paying jobs.

Information matters

Salinas, himself a first-generation college student, is a School of Social Sciences alum who double majored in economics (management science) and Latin American Studies. Grad school was on the top of his mind after his graduation in 2017, but so was the cost attached to it. That's when he learned about a scholarship in his meet-up soccer group chat. Salinas wasted no time in submitting his application and was soon on his way to realizing his grad school dream. He graduated with a master's degree in nonprofit leadership management from the University of San Diego.

Now, when he is out in the community to spread the word about CPP, Salinas shares his personal story in presentations to students and parents. He sees in them reflections of himself and his own family.

"As a first-generation college student, my parents weren't connected to internships, scholarships or information about summer programs," he said. "You base your decisions on the limited information you have - my dad said this, my uncle said this or I hear that this job earns a lot of money. Our goal here at CPP is to provide students the knowledge they need to make the best decision for themselves, whether it's going to community college, CSU or UC."

The four Tritons who make up the CPP team of student advisers are finding that what they do in CPP is much more than a job - it's an opportunity to give back and make a difference. Zoya Hasan, a third-year student, echoed the sentiments of her CPP colleagues. "I enjoy connecting with a diverse range of students, hearing their unique perspectives, and finding ways to share my insights as a college student to support their career and college journey."

An alum makes an impact

Besides drawing on the talents of student advisors, the program has given UC San Diego alumnus Oscar Jimenez, data visualization specialist for CPP, the opportunity to contribute his expertise and life experiences to further the success of high school students. A data science graduate of UC San Diego, Jimenez '22 brings to his role robust knowledge of the data reporting requirements of the program as well as experience in education outreach as a former EAOP advisor. He is responsible for creating data dashboards to gain more insights on how the program is working. He also maintains the data systems that calculate students' participation points via contacts, activities, Discord, and their newsletter to track engagement and facilitate communication among enrolled students and CPP advisors.

As he contributes his talents and expertise to CPP, Jimenez is gaining valuable work experience.

"Being out of my comfort zone, having to learn new technologies on the go, implementing them right away, and having to fix them is where I have learned the most," he said.

Planning for the future

Susan Yonezawa, the interim director of CREATE, is exploring ways to continue the program after the grant period ends in July 2026. One idea she has is a fee-for-service model where school districts or other non-profits contract with CPP to provide affordable college and career counseling services to their students. The feedback she has received so far from K-12 partners has given her reason for optimism.

"K-12 and higher ed need to look for more cost-effective ways to support our shared young people," she said. "CPP is virtual and designed by our younger staff to be youth-centered, built on a Discord platform and with a large capacity. Our pitch to K-12 leaders is that it is the perfect investment to serve a lot of their students and many are excited about it."