IntroductionPostdoctoral-to-faculty pathway initiatives have increased within biomedical higher education as strategies intended to broaden participation within the professoriate. Earlier scholarship identified disparities in biomedical faculty representation and positioned postdoctoral training as a critical stage in academic career trajectories. Institutions developed structured postdoctoral-to-faculty pathways to intentionally connect postdoctoral training with faculty opportunities. Although studies have examined the implementation and diversification goals of these initiatives, less attention has been given to how scholars experience these career pathways.MethodsThis descriptive phenomenological study examined the experiences of racialized ethnic minority (REM) postdoctoral scholars who transitioned into tenure-track faculty roles through the AGEP PROMISE Academy Alliance (APAA), a National Science Foundation-funded train-and-retain (T-RT) postdoctoral initiative operating across a Mid-Atlantic public university system. Semi-structured interviews with four REM scholars, between 2018 and 2022, revealed five interconnected themes shaping transition into faculty roles.ResultsThe themes that emerged included: (1) encountering varying mentorship and advocacy; (2) navigating unclear expectations and institutional processes; (3) managing uneven resources and expanding workload expectations; (4) sustaining research productivity during transition; and (5) negotiating belonging and faculty identity. Across four institutional types, the timing of the transition varied from six months to two years. Participants described the transition as simultaneously familiar and uncertain, as they navigated evolving collegial relationships, shifting expectations, perceptions of legitimacy, and departmental environments where past trainee identities remained visible. Mentoring relationships often provided support and advocacy while also complicating independence and faculty identity formation.DiscussionFindings distinguish this phenomenon from early-career faculty experiences typically examined after the faculty appointment. Within T-RT pathways, participants’ experiences began during the postdoctoral period and continued across tenure-track positions, as prior trainee identities, relationships, and recognition carried into faculty roles within the same departmental context. Professional legitimacy, collegial integration, mentoring, racialized visibility, belonging, and faculty identity were gradually negotiated across the formal transition.