Deadline: 29-May-24
The Spencer Foundation is currently accepting applications for Racial Equity Research Grants to support education research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education.
The goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in relation to racial equity in education. In this cycle of funding, they will continue to fund scholarship focused on a range of communities and issues with respect to equity. They encourage proposals from across the methodological spectrum, including qualitative methods, mixed-methods, and quantitative methods. They want to especially encourage Racial Equity proposals that focus on the following areas: (1) innovative forms of measurement and assessment, (2) artificial intelligence (AI), and (3) current political challenges in k-12 and higher education around diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not required to focus on a particular research topic, discipline, design, or method. They hope that scholars will identify the most compelling and needed areas of research. For instance, scholars might focus on: instructional challenges and innovations; racial and geographic disparities and promising directions for engaging and supporting children, families, and communities; informal learning environments and informal educators; assessment challenges and opportunities; climate change and equity, socialemotional learning and well-being; educator and leader development; digital learning environments; systems change and policy making; and intersections between housing, health, and education.
They are also interested in studies that seek to understand the situated experiences of minoritized groups, including but not limited to, Black, Latine/x, AAPI, and Indigenous communities. In addition, they are interested in studies that focus on those learners who are multiply marginalized, including intersections with English language learners, immigrants, students with disabilities, highly mobile and institutionalized youth (e.g., foster youth or those in youth prisons), LGTBQIA+ youth, and those in rural communities. Finally, they encourage proposals that are reflective of other international, national, and local contexts. They recognize that the experiences of inequality, as well as the histories and structures producing it, will vary. Thus, they expect to fund proposals that explore meanings and possibilities of equity, as well as explanations of inequality, in a variety of ways.
Funding Information
- The Racial Equity Research Grants program supports education research projects with budgets up to $75,000 for projects ranging from one to five years.
Eligibility and Restrictions
- Eligibility
- Proposals to the Racial Equity Research Grants program must be for academic research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education, broadly conceived. Proposals for activities other than research are not eligible (e.g., program evaluations, professional development, curriculum development, scholarships, capital projects). Additionally, proposals for research studies focused on areas other than education are not eligible.
- Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Racial Equity Research Grant must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. While graduate students may be part of the research team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.
- The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization or public/governmental institution that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. Examples include non-profit or public colleges, universities, school districts, and research facilities, as well as other non-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS (or equivalent non-profit status if the organization is outside of the United States).
- Restrictions
- Proposed budgets for this program are limited to $75,000 total and may not include indirect cost charges.
- Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration.
- PIs and Co-PIs may not submit more than one application for a given deadline in this program. Additionally, PIs or Co-PIs cannot have two projects under review in different programs.
For more information, visit Spencer Foundation.