Grants to USA, Canada, and International tax-exempt organizations to support the professional development of early-career researchers. Funding is intended for researchers at the beginning of their careers to carry out research in one of two focus areas while receiving mentoring and support. Focus areas include reducing inequality and improving the use of research evidence.

The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas. Awards are based on applicants’ potential to become influential researchers, as well as their plans to expand their expertise in new and significant ways.

The Foundation’s mission is to support research to improve the lives of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. The Foundation pursues this mission by supporting research within two focus areas. Researchers interested in applying for a William T. Grant Scholars Award must select one focus area:

Reducing Inequality: In this focus area, studies that aim to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people, especially on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic standing, language minority status, or immigrant origins are supported.

Improving the Use of Research Evidence: In this focus area, research on strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit young people ages 5-25 in the United States is supported. The Foundation invites studies from a range of disciplines, fields, and methods, and encourages investigations into various youth-serving systems, including justice, housing, child welfare, mental health, and education. Previous studies have drawn on conceptual and empirical work from political science, communication science, knowledge mobilization, implementation science, and organizational psychology, among other areas.

For more information on program focus areas, see http://wtgrantfoundation.org/library/uploads/2022/03/2022-Application-Guide-WTG-Scholars.pdf#page=5.

The Foundation's goals for the grant program are two-fold. First, it seeks to strengthen the mentoring received by  Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian and Asian Pacific Islander American junior researchers and to position them for professional success. Second, it wants to support William T. Grant Scholars and principal investigators in developing a stronger understanding of the career development issues facing their junior colleagues of color and to strengthen their mentoring relationships with them. In the longer term, the Foundation hopes this grant program will increase the number of strong, well-networked researchers of color doing research on the Foundation’s interests and help foster more diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic environments.