In 2021, Arizona State University reported that Hispanic students made up 26% of the on-campus undergraduate population. In terms of actual numbers, Hispanic enrollment stands at more than 30,000.
While the total Hispanic population in the U.S. is approximately 20%, statistics from the American Society for Engineering Education show representation in engineering is lagging.
Currently, 9% of master’s degrees and 7% of doctoral degrees in engineering are awarded to Hispanic graduates. Only 4% of faculty members in engineering-related fields are Hispanic.
So when David Eduardo Flores-Prieto, a biomedical engineering doctoral student at Arizona State University, realized ASU didn’t have a group for Hispanic international graduate students like the one he’d been a part of at University College London, he decided he needed to create one.
According to ASU News, within months he founded the Mexican Graduate Association for International Students at ASU. The organization helps international graduate students with resources for a smooth transition to life in the U.S. as well as peer mentorship, professional networking, and cultural events.
After more than a year of interacting online, the association was able to have its first in-person event last year. Finally, the group’s members were able to meet and enjoy trivia games, food, and a fun experience with other Mexican international graduate students at ASU.
“Just knowing that a community exists that can support you, that’s what we wanted to do, and I think we provided that,” Flores-Prieto told ASU News.
With guidance from the ASU Graduate College staff and the group’s faculty advisor, Professor Enrique R. Vivoni, Flores-Prieto has expanded his advocacy work beyond ASU, joining a national, online organization called LatinXinBME.
The group, founded by Brian Aguado and Ana María Porras, aims to diversify biomedical engineering in academia and industry through mentorship and a welcoming virtual community.
Flores-Prieto often serves as a mentor for undergraduate students in the LatinXinBME community who are thinking about graduate school — and in another mentorship program with undergraduate students at his alma mater in Mexico, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.
In addition to helping undergraduate students get to the next stage in their academic journeys as a mentor, Flores-Prieto also receives support from more experienced members of LatinXinBME who have gone through the same challenges he is now facing as a doctoral student.
Flores-Prieto recently earned another opportunity to help biomedical engineering students when he was elected president of the National Student Chapter of the Society for Biomaterials.
In this two-year role, Flores-Prieto manages Society for Biomaterials student chapters across the country and supports their operations and events, including Biomaterials Days like the one being hosted by the ASU chapter on October 10.
“It was important for me to realize that if the change is going to be done, I have to contribute,” says David Eduardo Flores-Prieto, biomedical engineering doctoral student at @ASUEngineering. https://t.co/0eRQ1EhTGo
— Arizona State University (@ASU) September 27, 2022
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