WTGF: William T. Grant Scholars

Sponsor: The William T. Grant Foundation (WTGF)

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports promising early career researchers from diverse disciplines. The award is intended to facilitate the professional development of early career scholars who have some demonstrated success in conducting high quality research and are seeking to further develop their skills and research program. Studies from these Scholars deepen and broaden the knowledge base on how to make a difference in the lives of young people. The program, now in its 25th year, has funded 124 Scholars since its inception.

The Foundation's mission focuses on improving the lives of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States. We invest primarily in high quality empirical studies. Our Current Research Priorities are understanding and improving social settings such as families, schools, peer groups, and organizations, and how these social settings affect youth. Our Priorities also focus on the use and influence of scientific evidence in policy and practice.

Candidates are nominated by a supporting institution and must submit five-year research plans that demonstrate creativity, intellectual rigor, and a commitment to continued professional development, are grounded in theory and sound scientific methods, and provide evidence for appropriate mentoring from senior investigators.

The Foundation supports research to understand and improve the settings of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States. Important settings include schools, youth-serving organizations, neighborhoods, families, and peer groups.

Our interests in youth’s settings fit into two areas. First, we are interested in studies that strengthen our understanding of how settings work; how they affect youth development; and how they can be improved. Second, we are interested in studies that strengthen our understanding of how and under what conditions research is used to influence policies and practices that affect youth’s settings.

Below are examples of research questions that fit our interests.

• How do instructional practices affect racial achievement gaps?

• Do welfare policies affect youth’s well-being because they change family processes?

• Do youth program activities have different influences on engagement for Mexican, Chinese, Black, and White youth?

• Does a professional development intervention improve staff relationships with youth in after-school programs?

• What factors influence the reliability and validity of classroom and school observational measures?

• Under what circumstances are evidence-based practices adopted, implemented, and sustained in schools?

• How is research on neighborhoods interpreted and used by policymakers? And vice versa, how do policy priorities shape what neighborhood researchers study?

Amount: Every year, four to six William T. Grant Scholars are selected and each receives $300,000 distributed over a five-year period.

Deadline: Open

For further information, please visit: http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org/info-url_nocat3042/info-url_nocat_list.htm?attrib_id=4398