Bridgette Davis

Bridgette Davis is a social work and social welfare policy scholar, and the founding director of the Equitable Transitions to Adulthood (ETA) Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Davis’ research interests include anti-poverty policy implementation and the role of public programs administered via nonprofit organizations in the reduction or reproduction of social inequality—particularly during the transition to adulthood.

Her research focuses on how policies and programs administered during the transition adulthood contribute to heterogeneous outcomes, social stratification, and/or cumulative (dis)advantages among first-generation and/or underrepresented racial minority college aspirants. Davis conducts qualitative, archival, and mixed methods studies of public and nonprofit interventions to better understand the ways in which problems and solutions emerge and compound for marginalized young people as they become adults. She has published in journals including Urban Education and Social Service Review. She also serves on the editorial board of Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership, & Governance.

Her dissertation study, which was funded by the Hymen Milgrom Successful Pathways from School to Work Grant, has been noted in articles by the New Yorker, Politico, WBEZ Chicago, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Davis is currently working on her first book project that details the long-term and unmeasured impact of a 1970s public service employment program, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, on the life trajectories of those who were employed during their young adulthood.

AWARDS
Academic Award (2025) from the New England Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration (NE-ASPA) for exemplifying the research mission of ASPA: rigorous, justice-oriented, deeply connected to the needs of communities - offering actionable insights for dismantling inequities, and bridging theory and practice in a way that transforms lives.

Outstanding Mentor Award (2024) from the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for building infrastructure for the mentorship of graduate and/or undergraduate students.

Simons Doctoral Student Teaching Award (2022) from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago for outstanding contributions to the development of inclusive pedagogy in social work education and a classroom that promotes critical thinking, advances knowledge, and supports academic and professional development.

EXPERIENCE
Prior to obtaining her PhD, Davis was a public-school educator in Atlanta and Dean of College Preparation and Persistence at a Title I high school on Chicago’s west side. She also worked as a nonprofit program director for both Teach for America and One Goal—coaching both teachers and aspiring first-generation college students to reach ambitious goals. Davis was also the first in her family to graduate from college and grew up in rural Iowa.

EDUCATION
Davis holds both a PhD and an AM from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and maintains clinical social worker licenses in both Massachusetts and Illinois.