Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education: Planning Grant

Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education: Planning Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Amount: Up to US $75,000
Last Updated: June 09, 2025

Summary

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education initiative aims to foster partnerships between Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and graduate programs. By addressing barriers in graduate education, the initiative seeks to promote equitable learning environments. Planning grants will support collaborations that assess needs and develop systemic changes to enhance pathways for students in STEM fields, ensuring that all students can thrive in their academic pursuits.

Overview

About The Higher Education Program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is pleased to announce its third Call for Letters of Inquiry for the Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education initiative, continuing its investment in Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and in the establishment of partnerships between MSIs and graduate programs nationwide. Grantees awarded via this initiative will engage the expertise of MSIs—and the unique experiences of their faculty and students—to model effective systems and practices that remove barriers and create opportunities for equitable learning environments in STEM graduate education so all students can thrive. Grant awards will support sharing MSIs’ institutional know-how on equitable undergraduate and graduate education, as well as modeling that know-how to create systemic changes that enhance pathways from MSIs to master’s and doctoral degree programs in astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, data science, Earth sciences, economics, engineering, marine science, mathematics, physics, and statistics at partner institutions. In addition to establishing seamless pathways, successful projects will address policies, processes, and practices that reinforce existing systems that are barriers to student access and success in graduate education. These projects could include efforts to examine or redesign graduate recruitment, admission policies and processes, mentoring practices, departmental climate, or other gatekeeping (or gateway) structures to and through STEM graduate education. Since the barriers to equitable pathways do not end once students are admitted to graduate programs, Sloan is looking for evidence that projects will promote and enhance existing efforts to reduce and eliminate policies, procedures, and institutional climates and cultures that prevent students from successfully attaining a graduate degree. Planning Grants Planning grants will support work between two or more institutions (one of which must be an MSI) that are seeking to set the stage for the establishment of a partnership or set of partnerships that engage and model the expertise of the MSI to yield systemic change, but which first require an assessment of the need and timing for partnership activities. Projects must demonstrate a clear roadmap to partnership through a well-defined set of planning activities.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Institutions/organizations eligible as partners for the grant awards include:Nonprofit two- and four-year colleges and universities College and university systems or consortia Professional societies and associations (along with two or more partnering colleges/universities) University-affiliated research centers or laboratories All projects must have at least one MSI partner. When two or more institutions are the proposed grantees, it is preferred that the primary PI be housed at the MSI to create a direct connection between MSI expertise and project leadership. All projects must also include a description of the full breadth of the partner institutions’ broad, pathways-opening initiatives, which are integral to the design and objectives of the Sloan Foundation’s Equitable Pathways initiative. PI Eligibility: Lead investigators from submitting and partner institutions should be at the full, associate, or assistant professor level, a department chair, or in an administrative role with high connectivity to academic positions. Such individuals should come from nonprofit two- or four-year institutions, or organizations that serve higher education professionals or institutions.