The Other 1%: How Bernadette Tsosie Amplifies Critical Voices at LM
Bernadette Tsosie won’t readily admit she’s a trailblazer, but once you hear her story, there’s no doubt that she forged a new path for Native American women.
“Throughout my life, I've always been under 1% of the population. I was often the only minority and woman in my classes, and when I graduated from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1991, I was the first American Indian to receive a geology degree,” said Tsosie, who is today a site manager for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM).
After her undergraduate studies, she would achieve another milestone by becoming the first Native American to complete her graduate studies at New Mexico Tech, earning a master’s degree in geology. But those achievements meant overcoming challenges that many Native Americans still face.
“We have a high dropout rate among Native students in college, even at New Mexico Tech. There would be maybe 15 of us there initially in the fall and then by the spring there was only eight of us. Over 50% or more left school,” Tsosie said.
The disparities in STEM education resources and their impact on socioeconomically challenged minorities is accounted for in study after study. But among Native Americans, it’s not just the access to educational resources that’s difficult. There’s another barrier to completing or even attending college — homesickness.
“They have a hard time adjusting to the lifestyle of being away from home because their focus has really been on family, and so a lot of them get homesick,” said Tsosie.
She says she was able to overcome that obstacle because she had a strong role model — her mother — who had made the same adjustment when she attended college away from home.
“I felt homesick, too, but my mom kept telling me, ‘You need to stay there,’ said Tsosie. “In fact, during our breaks, she would come down to see my sister and me so that we didn't have to go back home. But she encouraged us by saying, ‘This is a short time in your life. Once you’re done, no one can take your degree away from you.’”
