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American Journal of Physics -- April 2011 -- Volume 79, Issue 4, pp. 374

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program: Recognizing, enlisting, and cultivating unrealized or unrecognized potential in underrepresented minority students

Keivan G. Stassun1, Susan Sturm2, Kelly Holley-Bockelmann1, Arnold Burger3, David J. Ernst1, and Donna Webb4

1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, and Department of Physics, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee 37208
2Center for Institutional and Social Change, Columbia University Law School, New York, New York 10027
3Department of Physics, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235
4Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, and Department of Biology, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee 37208

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The Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program is a model for substantially increasing the number of underrepresented minority students earning doctoral degrees in the physical sciences. The program presently leads the nation in master’s degrees in physics for African-Americans, and is one of the top ten producers of physics master’s degrees among all U.S. citizens. The program is on pace to become the nation’s top producer of underrepresented minority Ph.Ds. in physics, astronomy, and materials science. We summarize the main features of the program, including two of its core strategies: Partnering a minority-serving institution and a major research university through collaborative research, and using the master’s degree as a pathway to the Ph.D. We discuss our methods for recognizing and selecting for unrealized potential in students during the admissions process, and for cultivating this potential to develop successful scientists and leaders.

© 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the support of NSF Grant Nos. AST-0349075 and AST-0849736 (K.G.S.), AST-0847696 (K.H.-B.), and the generous support of the Vanderbilt Office of the Provost.

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. THE FISK-VANDERBILT MASTERS-TO-PH.D. PROGRAM
    1. Overview
    2. Facilitating a Successful Transition to Ph.D.
  3. THEORY OF THE PROGRAM
    1. Identifying unrealized or unrecognized potential in students
    2. Cultivating potential in students
  4. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

physics education

PACS

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History
Received Nov 2009
Accepted Dec 2010

PUBLICATION DATA

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0002-9505 (print)  

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$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3546069

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