ers and their daughters. Participants enter a
one-year program where they visit the
University of Texas campus several times,
including at least one overnight visit in a
dorm. They have the opportunity to meet
and talk to students. They also meet and
question Mexican-American women in a
variety of professions including police-
women, lawyers, judges, accountants, scien-
tists, writers and airline pilots. At the end-of-
the-year ceremony, the mothers and daugh-
ters make pledges to each other. The daugh-
ters pledge to do their homework every day,
to finish high school, to not get pregnant
until after marriage. The mothers pledge to
help the daughters find a place to do home-
work, and to support their daughters’ ambi-
tions. Participants decide on the pledges
they wish to make and write the pledges on
decorative paper provided by the program.
The handwritten pledges are often framed
and placed prominently in homes. The pro-
gram has recently been expanded to include
grades 7–12.In the first cohort of 33 girls, 32 graduated
from high school, 10 as honor students, and
all of the 32 enrolled in college. Three moth-
ers in this cohort have graduated from the
University of Texas at El Paso, and many oth-
ers are pursuing their education. Over 2400
daughters and their mothers have participat-
ed in the program since its inception in 1986.Many of the former participants who are cur-
rently in college are acting as “big sisters” for
new sixth graders entering the program. In
addition, the rate of teen pregnancy in the
program participants is far lower than for
their classmates.The Mother–Daughter Program has been
so successful that it has been extended to five
University of Texas systems as well as insti-
tutions in other parts of the Southwest and
California. In 1998, Tinajero began a similar
program for boys and their fathers, and she is
developing programs to enhance the math
and science skills of teachers. The programs
have been supported by AT&T, the Rotary
Club, the Kellogg Foundation, the Freedom
Forum, Meadow Foundation, Southwestern
Bell and the U.S. Department of Education.
Margaret Mead once observed that it took
three generations of education before a
woman would aspire to and obtain an
advanced degree. Only 1% of Hispanic
women have advanced degrees, and fewer
than 7% of PhDs in the sciences are awarded
to minority individuals. These disappointing
numbers represent several generations of lost
talent. Unless we expand the availability of
programs such as Mother–Daughter, we will
continue to lose the talent of a significant por-
tion of our population. ■66 CAREER ADVICE FOR LIFE SCIENTISTS
Over 2400 daughters and their
mothers have participated in the
program since its inception in
1986.Margaret Mead once observed
that it took three generations of
education before a woman
would aspire to and obtain an
advanced degree.