Zedeck-Jacobs Adverse Impact Reduction Research Grant

Funder: Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Foundation (SIOP)

The Zedeck-Jacobs Adverse Impact Reduction Research Grant, funded by the SIOP Foundation, aims to support research that addresses adverse impact in testing and selection processes. With a funding amount of $3,000, this grant encourages innovative proposals from SIOP members to explore new strategies and constructs that may help reduce adverse impact on protected groups. Research outcomes should contribute to the understanding of adverse impact and advance effective solutions, ultimately benefiting the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

The SIOP Foundation is committed to improving the lives of workers and the functioning of organizations through the science and practice of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
The Zedeck-Jacobs Adverse Impact Research Grant, created under the leadership of Rick Jacobs, was recently renamed in honor of Sheldon Zedeck. The grant will be given to a member of SIOP or team whose research will examine new approaches in the study of adverse impact and lead to new programs designed to reduce adverse impact. The recipient(s) with the best research proposal will receive grant funding of $3,000.
The Zedeck-Jacobs Adverse Impact Research Grant is designed to offer support to researchers who are investigating causes and solutions to adverse impact in testing and selection. A test or other selection procedure may be said to have adverse impact (AI) when its use results in a disproportionately negative effect on members or a group with a legally protected characteristic (e.g., race, color, religion, sex) even though the impact may be unintentional. Adverse impact has been a persistent problem for decades, and although some findings have not only helped us to understand the problem and create modest solutions, we are still without a viable theory, consistent processes or programs to reduce or eliminate AI, or a body of research that informs the laws that govern employment practices.
Proposed research topics may examine factors that cause or contribute to adverse impact, and/or investigate strategies that reduce adverse impact; for example:
the use of new or underutilized constructs, or alternate conceptualizationsnovel assessment strategiesnew approaches to formatting, administering, and/or scoring tests;innovative approaches to combining multiple measuresprograms or processes for improving the test-taking performance of minority candidates
Research results are expected to meaningfully advance the field’s understanding of adverse impact and its causes, contribute to our understanding of the validity-diversity dilemma, and/or produce a reduction in adverse impact relative to existing assessments using one or more of the approaches listed in the “Purpose” section found here.
The objective of the grant is to offer research funding that will encourage scholars to engage in programmatic research that blends I-O psychology, public policy, and the law in efforts to further inform us on the underlying factors that lead to AI and methods for its reduction.

Eligibility

The principal investigator of the project must be a SIOP Fellow, Member, Associate, or Student.Proposals submitted with a Student as the principal investigator must include a letter of endorsement from a SIOP professional member. In order to encourage wide participation and a large variety of individuals and institutions involved in the program, an individual can only be involved in one proposal per review cycle per grant.The grant can be used in conjunction with other funding for a larger scale project. In this case, the proposal should describe the scope of the entire project, the entire budget, and the portion of the budget for which award money will be spent.
You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member.

Ineligibility

Individuals who received a  Zedeck-Jacobs Grant within the last two years are ineligible.Grant funds may not be used for overhead or indirect costs.Grant funds should not be used to pay for ancillary costs related to the project (publication or presentations at conferences, such as open access and registration/ travel costs).