Dear FLI Students,
Are you interested in gaining experience doing qualitative social science research? Then consider applying for the FLI Research Team!
Since the last group of FLI Research Team members graduated in May 2025, it’s time to invite a new group of students to the team. If you are interested, please make sure to check out the FAQ section on the website and fill out this application form.
To be eligible for consideration, students must be first generation and/or low income, and must be current first-years, sophomores, or juniors. Applications are due Friday, January 30, 2026 by 11:59 pm. A short 15-20 minute interview will be scheduled during the first week of February, and new members will be selected by mid-February.
Since the spring of 2017, members of the team have worked together to conduct research focused on the experiences of first-generation and/or low-income students at Vassar. In previous years, the team has studied the factors that produce or inhibit a sense of belonging among first gen, low income students; explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted FLI students financially, academically, and socially; and most recently, how FLI students have experienced first-year writing seminars. The project I’d love to work on with the new team is sifting through over a decade of interview data to see if we can craft a narrative about FGLI college belonging that’s worthy of a book project! It’s been my dream to work with students on a book-length project and I think now is a good time to undertake that adventure.
If you would like to learn a bit more about the research team, check out the drop-down menus on our website to get a sense of projects and presentations from previous years, who has been part of the research team, and what research team alums are up to now.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at errueda@vassar.edu.
Sincerely,
Professor Rueda
Department of Sociology & Latin American and Latinx Studies