The APS Bridge Program and my journey to the PhD*

I will summarize aspects of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program and the APS Bridge Program​​, that through guiding principles such as diversity, equitable access, sustainability, and accountability, have significantly increased the number of underrepresented minoritized students earn doctoral degrees in STEM. I will draw from my experiences in how their mentoring practices and core strategies --- replacing the GRE in admissions with indicators that are more predictive of long-term success; partnering with a minority-serving institution for student training through collaborative research; and using the master’s degree as a deliberate steppingstone to the PhD --- have helped me achieve my professional goals. Finally, I will summarize how ​universities and institutions can further improve student retention​ and​ student success in undergraduate and graduate programs​ based on recommendations in the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020.