Racial Equity Research Grants

The Racial Equity Research Grants by the Spencer Foundation aim to support innovative education research addressing racial inequality. This program encourages studies that disrupt existing educational disparities and explore equitable practices across diverse contexts. Proposals can range from one to five years, with budgets up to $75,000. The foundation seeks rigorous research across methodologies, particularly in areas like AI and innovative assessments, while ensuring inclusion of various communities in the research focus.

NOTE: The application process begins with an Intent to Apply form. Once submitted, you will automatically have access to the Full Proposal application in our online portal.
The Racial Equity Research Grants program supports education research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education. We are interested in funding studies that aim to understand and disrupt the reproduction and deepening of inequality in education, and which seek to (re)imagine and make new forms of equitable education. Thus, we are interested in research projects that seek to envision educational opportunities in a multiplicity of education systems, levels, settings, and developmental ranges and that reach beyond documenting conditions and paradigms that contribute to persistent racial inequalities.
Our 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, we will continue to fund scholarship focused on a range of communities and issues with respect to equity. We encourage proposals from across the methodological spectrum, including qualitative methods, mixed-methods, and quantitative methods. We 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.
As with other Spencer grant programs, this program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not required to be developed around a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or geographic location. We will be accepting applications for projects ranging from one to five years with budgets up to $75,000.

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.Spencer funds research projects that span the life-course (i.e., from early childhood to adult learning) as well as those that focus on contexts outside of school.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. 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).Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however, all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.

Ineligibility

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.The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals.Proposed budgets may not include indirect cost charges per Spencer’s policy.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.