RSF: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Grant Program

RSF: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Russell Sage Foundation
Amount: Up to US $200,000
Last Updated: January 08, 2026

Summary

The Russell Sage Foundation's Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Grant Program funds innovative research on the intersections of race, ethnicity, and immigration. It aims to explore how these factors influence social, economic, and political outcomes for various populations, including immigrants and U.S.-born minorities. Projects should focus on original data collection, rigorous research designs, and address critical questions regarding diversity, policy impacts, and intergroup relations. Funding caps are set at $200,000, promoting multifaceted approaches in social science research.

Overview

Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration The Russell Sage Foundation’s program on Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration supports innovative investigator-initiated research that examines the roles of race, ethnicity, nativity, legal status —and their interactions with each other and other social categories—in the social, economic, and political outcomes for immigrants, U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities, and native-born whites. We support original data collection when a project is focused on important program priorities, projects that conduct survey or field experiments and qualitative studies. Proposed projects must have well-developed conceptual frameworks and rigorous research designs. Analytical models must be well-specified and research methods must be appropriate. The kinds of questions that are of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Intergroup Relations, and Social Inclusion To what extent has the prospect of a “majority-minority” population affected the political behavior of whites and of racial and ethnic minorities? How does increased racial/ethnic diversity of organizations, schools, neighborhoods, communities, and the nation affect relations among members of different racial/ethnic groups? How do race-related beliefs—such as concepts of difference, prejudice towards other groups, and attitudes towards race-related policies—evolve in the context of growing ethno-racial diversity? How has growth in the Asian American population affected its economic, political, and socio-cultural status and influenced attitudes of other groups towards Asian Americans? How have institutions such as labor unions, community- and faith-based organizations, schools, and the criminal justice system responded to increasing racial/ethnic diversity? To what extent have they affected social, economic, or political disparities between the foreign-born and the U.S.-born? What are the sources of conflict, tension and accommodation between newcomers and long-term residents? What factors contribute to acceptance of new immigrants, and which lead to conflict? What is the relationship between newer and older immigrant groups and between first-generation immigrants and citizen co-ethnics? How does the presence of the co-ethnics shape the integration, socialization, and socio-economic wellbeing of new arrivals? How do changes in the level and distribution of economic resources affect the attitudes of the native-born with respect to the foreign-born and racial and ethnic minorities? Immigration Policy and Immigrant Integration Policies Some state and local ordinances attempt to exclude immigrants from access to schools, medical services, housing, and employment, but others attempt to facilitate immigrant integration. What are their various effects on immigrant outcomes? To what extent do government policies affect who becomes naturalized? How does naturalization affect educational attainment, labor market outcomes, political participation, and civic life? How has heightened immigration enforcement affected participation in safety net programs (e.g., Medicaid, Head Start, nutritional assistance programs)? To what extent has it had unintended economic or civic engagement effects on authorized immigrants and U.S. citizens? To what extent have intensified apprehension and deportation policies affected the socio-economic outcomes of immigrant children, youth, and young adults? The Role of Legal Status in Immigrant Outcomes How does lack of documentation affect the social, economic, and civic integration outcomes of immigrants and their families? To what extent does undocumented immigration affect how firms structure their hiring and employment practices? How has the implementation of policies such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy or Temporary Protected Status designation affected the social, political, and economic outcomes of immigrants? Social Movements and Responses to Diversity To what extent have political mobilization and social movements protesting inequality, racism, policing, and criminal justice issues affected young people’s opportunities regarding education, employment, and income? To what extent have political and social movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, affected political attitudes, behaviors, and economic opportunities? How have the social, political, economic, and psychological consequences of the rise of white nativism and white supremacy affected the wellbeing and opportunities of immigrants and ethno-racial minorities? The Politics of Racial and Ethnic Competition and Coalition Building To what extent does material success translate into greater or less trust of racial and ethnic minorities in mainstream institutions, including the political process? To what extent has demographic change affected racial politics, including attitudes towards particular policy issues? To what extent has the movement by institutions, employers, and civic and social organizations to implement policies on diversity and inclusion affected the experiences of discrimination by racial and ethnic minorities? Has the adoption of these policies increased anti-government sentiment and racial resentment? Are young people from minoritized groups more or less likely to engage in mainstream political actions than the previous generation, and if so, what are the reasons? Criminal and Civil Justice in Law Enforcement To what extent do interactions with the carceral state affect opportunities for political participation? How do experiences of policing or incarceration affect young people’s opportunities regarding education, employment, and income? History, Race, Immigration, and the Law How have race and the law shaped ideas about the state, citizenship, and claims-making? How have government policies contributed to racial segregation and discrimination? What are the effects on public safety and/or incarceration rates of adopting algorithmic risk assessments as an aid to judicial discretion in bail and sentencing decisions? How have racial hierarchies changed in response to decades of civil rights legislation and reforms? How does legal exclusion based on race or ethnicity affect the social, economic, and civic integration of minoritized groups? Funding Trustee Grants are capped at $200,000, including 15% indirect costs, over a two-year period. Presidential Awards are capped at $50,000 (no indirect costs) over a two-year period. However, when research projects have special needs for gathering data (e.g., qualitative research or survey experiments), gaining access to proprietary or restricted-use data, or when the proposal budget includes salary support for multiple assistant professor PIs, applicants may request up to $75,000 (no indirect costs). RSF allows up to a maximum of 15% overhead for indirect costs on Research Grants above $75,000.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research.All nationalities are eligible to apply and applicants do not have to reside in the U.S., but the focus of the proposed research project must be on the U.S. as per our mission.Funding can be used for research assistance, data acquisition, data analysis, and investigator time for conducting research and writing up results. You may submit multiple letters of inquiry (for different projects) for the same funding cycle.

Ineligibility

Students may not be applicants.RSF priorities do not include analyses of health or mental health outcomes or health behaviors as these are priorities for other funders. For the same reason, RSF seldom supports studies focused on educational processes or curricular issues but does prioritize analyses of inequalities in student achievement or educational attainment.The foundation does not typically provide support for conferences and workshops independent of a specific project and affiliated grant. In some rare cases, we will consider providing partial support for a specific research conference that furthers the goals of the foundation. Open-ended conferences will not be considered.