OVERVIEW: The Russell Sage Foundation funds social science research projects concerning behavioral economics, labor, race, immigration, and the future of work.
IP TAKE: This somewhat accessible funder primarily invests in social science research projects. It is not generally interested in direct intervention programs. While it does not accept unsolicited applications, it considers letters of inquiry after which it chooses to extend an invitation for an application. The foundation supports both individual researchers and teams of researchers in tenure-track positions at reputable universities. This funder is reasonably approachable.
PROFILE: Established by Margaret Olivia Sage in the early 1900s, the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) is one of the oldest charitable foundations in the United States. In its early years, RSF funding centered on improving the social and living conditions of marginalized populations across the U.S. The foundation is now exclusively dedicated to “strengthening the methods, data, and theoretical core of the social sciences.” Its main grantmaking programs are in Behavioral Economics, Future of Work, Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration, and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality.
Grants for Economic Opportunity
Future of Work grants fund research into the “causes and consequences of the deteriorating quality of low-wage jobs in the United States.” It supports individual researchers and teams of researchers investigating including outsourcing, immigration, the decline of unions, technological change, and “the role of job search behaviors on the employment and wage outcomes of women and minorities in the post-recessionary U.S. labor market,” among others. The Social, Political, and Economic Inequality program funds research into “factors that contribute to existing inequities, the extent to which these inequalities affect social, political, and economic institutions and outcomes, and how they influence the lives of individuals and families.” It supports research into topics such as equality of opportunity, intergenerational mobility, political institutions, policy, cultural shifts, psychological changes, and educational attainment.
Grants for Science Research
RSF’s Behavioral Economics program funds “research that uses insights and methods from psychology, economics, sociology, political science and other social sciences to examine and improve social and living conditions in the United States,” as well as a two-week summer institute and small grants for doctoral students. The foundation awards grants to individual researchers or teams of researchers, prioritizing field experiments rather than lab-based experiments. It is especially interested in projects that seek to construct “a more unified theory of human behavior to eventually eliminate the distinction between behavioral economics and the rest of economics.” Other research topics currently of interest include “choice architecture,” “time preference,” “poverty, inequality, and mobility,” “labor markets,” “racial and ethnic bias,” and “public finance.”
In partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Russell Sage has launched its Pipeline Competition, targeted at early- to mid-career researchers in tenure-track positions who are “underrepresented in the social sciences,” in terms of ethnic, gender, disciplinary, or geographic background. The foundation is interested in research topics relating to “structural barriers to economic mobility and how individuals, communities, and governments have come to understand, navigate, and challenge the existence of systemic inequalities.”
Grants for Racial Justice and Immigration
The Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration program supports “multi-disciplinary perspectives on questions stemming from the significant changes in the racial, ethnic, and immigrant-origin composition of the U.S. population.” The foundation funds individual researchers and teams of researchers investigating topics such as immigration policy, integration, the effects of increased diversity, social inclusion, identity formation, criminal justice and the legal system, and intergroup relations.
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $20,000 to $175,000. The foundation also awards Small Grants of $10,000 or less. The Russell Sage Foundation has three grant cycles per year. Grantseekers must submit a Letter of Inquiry in order to be invited to apply.
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