Research Grants on Reducing Inequality

The Foundation's research interests center on studies that examine ways to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. The Foundation welcomes descriptive studies that clarify mechanisms for reducing inequality or elucidate how or why a specific program, policy, or practice operates to reduce inequality. The Foundation also welcomes intervention studies that examine attempts to reduce inequality. Finally, the Foundation welcomes studies that improve the measurement of inequality in ways that can enhance the work of researchers, practitioners, or policymakers.

Applications for research grants on reducing inequality must:

1. Identify a specific inequality in youth outcomes, and show that the outcomes are currently unequal by engaging with the extant literature on the causes and consequences of inequality. The Foundation is especially interested in supporting research to reduce inequality in academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes.
2. Make a convincing case for the dimension(s) of inequality the study will address. 
3. Articulate how findings from your research will help build, test, or increase understanding of a specific program, policy, or practice to reduce the specific inequality that you have identified.

For additional information on the above, see http://wtgrantfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2023-Application-Guide-Research-Grants-on-RI.pdf#page=5

Funding is available for major grants and for officers' research grants for smaller projects. 

• For Major Research Grants, projects involving secondary data analysis are at the lower end of the budget range, whereas projects involving new data collection and sample recruitment can be at the higher end. Proposals to launch experiments in which settings (e.g., classrooms, schools, youth programs) are randomly assigned to conditions sometimes have higher awards. 

• Officers’ Research Grants, studies may be stand-alone projects or may build off larger projects. The budget should be appropriate for the activities proposed.

In addition to financial support, the Foundation invests significant time and resources in capacity-building for research grantees. They provide opportunities for connections with other scholars, policymakers, and practitioners, and organize learning communities for grantees in each focus area. Such meetings allow grantees to discuss challenges, seek advice from peers and colleagues, and collaborate across projects. To strengthen grantees’ capacities to conduct and implement strong qualitative and mixed-methods work, the Foundation provides access to a consultation service focused on those methods.

Only studies that 1) align with the stated research interests of this program and 2) relate to the outcomes of young people between the ages of 5 and 25 in the United States are eligible for consideration. 

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)