Empowering First-Gen Students: How SJSU’s MBA Programs Propel Students Toward Career Growth

Perched atop the tower that San José State University’s Lucas Graduate School of Business (LGSB) calls home, you can spot several massive bird’s nests meticulously assembled with twigs and branches. Their winged inhabitants, much like some of our first-generation MBA students, have found the LGSB to be an ideal landing spot. 

Thalía Cortés didn’t think she was ever going to get to college. In high school, the San José native was told she didn’t have enough units to graduate and had two options — not receiving a diploma or completing a grueling list of feats to earn the necessary units. For Cortés, the choice was crystal clear. She made it across that finish line and cemented her resilience to never give up. 

In the years following high school, Cortés attended community college on and off in her endeavor to find a career path that suited her. She earned three associates degrees prior to transferring to SJSU where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in business management. 

“My journey wasn’t linear like most students where you go to high school and then you go straight to college,” Cortés recalled.

Now, the first-generation Latina student is months away from completing the LGSB’s MBA for Professionals program. “I’ve had some of the best professors I have ever had in this program,” said Cortés. One particular moment that still resonates with her deeply made her think at the time, “Wow! I can tell these professors really care about these students.” 

In Fall 2023, Cortés was in a class taught by Pamela Wells, an LGSB faculty member who teaches both business management and global innovation and leadership. Cortés fondly recollects how Wells was the first teacher or professor who has ever learned to accurately pronounce “Thalía” on the first day of class and continue doing so going forward. One day during class, Cortés took a quick moment to tell Wells, “Thank you for getting my name right.”

Though Cortés contemplated other universities, she says SJSU made the most sense considering her career goal was to continue working in tech post-MBA. “I thought, ‘Why am I going to go anywhere else when the tech companies live here? They’re neighbors to the university,’” she said.  

Cortés has always worked full-time and the MBA for Professionals hybrid schedule stood out. “Being able to work full-time and go to class in a hybrid model was super helpful, and it’s critical for me,” Cortés said, adding that not many programs near her offer that opportunity.  

A further consideration for Cortés was the financial factor. “It was more affordable than most programs and the fact, too, that it’s in the Silicon Valley, I think people kind of bypass that,” she said.

Victoria Stephenson, an MBA for Professionals candidate expected to graduate in Fall 2024, has a similar opinion. When she considered notable universities worth applying to in Northern California and beyond, she used three criteria to evaluate them: the overall program, the price and their visibility from Silicon Valley. 

“Right now, San José State is well known for active recruitment from the high-tech industry here,” Stephenson said. “So that was a plus.”

Stephenson planned her return to higher education for 18 years, putting family and financial obligations first, then encountering further delays due to the pandemic. As a first-generation student, Stephenson says she’s humbled by the fact that she is at SJSU. “I cherish the time I am here,” she said. 

“I think the program for me, right now, is a personal achievement,” said Stephenson. “But with that personal achievement, I also want to have the opportunity to transfer some of my experiences to others.”

When considering cost versus value, Stephenson has high praise. “I think I am getting back 150% of what I am putting in,” she said. “My return on investment is way up there.” 

Stephenson boasted that her MBA professors have been amazing, noting how they bring to the classroom years of experience and professional background. She says she has gained valuable knowledge from each one of them. 

“He is so mellow and he makes learning like a picnic,” Stephenson said of Arjun Buxi, an MBA for Professionals faculty member and executive coach to Silicon Valley tech company leaders. The sentiment she has taken from being in his class is that, “It’s OK, you can do this!”

Furthermore, Stephenson emphasized how the MBA for Professionals program creates a rich networking environment, factoring in faculty, SJSU alumni and program peers who are also local industry professionals. Of the networking dynamic, she pointed out that faculty create a “well-structured learning environment that fosters us to communicate, learn, all of that.”

Stephenson’s next career goal is to earn her Ed.D. and then teach specifically at SJSU — not anywhere else. “I think SJSU is part of my family,” she shared. “My daughter and son are here.” Her daughter is earning her master’s degree in nursing and her son is an undergrad mechanical engineering student. 

Like Stephenson, David Poirier’s career path is suddenly leading him toward academia, too. But this wasn’t always the case. 

Poirier, an Early Career MBA student graduating in Spring 2024, worked in the private sector for about three years as a human resources specialist but felt he didn’t have opportunities to grow. This was his cue that it was time to pursue his MBA.

Through the Early Career MBA program and under the mentorship of Gretchen Lester, an associate professor in the School of Management, Poirier has had the opportunity to develop his research skills. 

“She really pushed me and taught me how not only to conduct research, but how to look at business from a theoretical point of view, and then apply innovative practices that you don’t always see within the industry to help give you a competitive edge,” Poirier said. 

He admits that the Early Career program definitely had an unforeseen impact on him. “Working in research under Dr. Lester and conducting my own research in the mentorship program, I realized that I actually really like academia,” Poirier said. As a result, his next goal is to pursue a Ph.D. to eventually become a professor or an academic administrator. 

According to Poirier’s experience, SJSU exposes students to so many different opportunities that they’re bound to find something they didn’t know they were looking for. “I think that’s what makes it great, because you might come in with a certain end goal, but the program just has so much to offer you, you’ll probably end up reaching an even better end goal than you started with,” he said. “And for me, that was finding my path in academia.”

As a first-generation student who is weeks away from wrapping up his MBA and setting his sights on his Ph.D., Poirier took a moment to reflect on his accomplishments. 

“It’s always possible, and sometimes even better, to trailblaze your own path,” Poirier said. “Because that’s when you really find what you’re best at doing. And at San José State University, it definitely gave me the opportunity to build my own path.”

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Yvette Trejo has been part of San José State University’s Lucas College and Graduate School of Business for 15 years. Her current role is SISTech and Communications Analyst. To learn more about our MBA programs, contact Tiffany Doan at lucas-school@sjsu.edu.