SIOP and SIOP Foundation call for Anti-Racism Grant Project Proposals

SIOP and the SIOP Foundation have announced the criteria for their new Anti-Racism Grant. Created to deepen our understanding of racism at work, the grant is a step toward meeting needs for social justice in the workplace.

The Foundation is also collecting contributions for the fund and will continue to do so indefinitely. Contributions can be made on the Foundation webpage; select “FDN Anti-Racism Grant.”

“Racism in the workplace has become a flashpoint,” said Foundation President Milt Hakel. “Research won’t end racism. But racism won’t end without research. I-Os need to seize the opportunity to direct our talents toward promoting equal employment opportunity as a path for addressing systemic racism.”

This call is for projects aimed at enlarging our understanding of racism in the workplace, its causes, and its reduction. Any research or project that contributes to the elimination or reduction of discrimination in the workplace will be considered. The goal of this grant program is to identify evidence-based solutions to the problems of racism in the workplace.

The full Call for Project Proposals on the SIOP website includes informative background information, additional examples of topics and project forms, criteria for evaluation of project proposals, submission process, and other needed information.

SIOP will begin accepting project proposals Wednesday, July 15. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EDT Monday, July 27 at www.siop.org/Foundation/Awards/Research-Grants.

“As the global COVID-19 pandemic shows starkly, and the global demonstrations against racism attest resoundingly, we are all in this together,” Hakel said. “Now we need to draw deeply and broadly from all disciplines to strengthen I-O praxis because we are more than just scientists or practitioners or scientist-practitioners.”

Examples of topics include, but are not limited to, studies of the following:

• Behaviors and actions of employees and managers that perpetuate or minimize racism or promote fairness and inclusion.
• Human resource management systems that reward and punish employees differently as a function of race.
• Individuals more (or less) inclined to discriminate and the impact this information can have on selection and training.

The form of projects is open. Examples of the types of projects that will be considered include, but are not limited to:

• Basic Research
• Technical Assistance Projects (in which SIOP experts collaborate with organizations to solve problems such as selection, training, employee engagement, and supervision)
• Program and Project Evaluations (e. g, implicit bias training, inclusion initiatives)
• Workshops and Webinars

Multidisciplinary projects are encouraged as well as those that blend practice and research. Both qualitative and quantitative projects are encouraged. The grant will focus on race issues in the United States because this is where the pledge of liberty and justice for all is deeply enshrined in the history of the country and the beliefs of its citizens and currently threatened. We will focus on applied psychology in the workplace because that is our domain.

The fund pool size will be announced July 15. Once proposals are reviewed, the maximum size of the grant(s) will be determined by the Anti-Racism Grants Subcommittee, e.g., winner take all, or winner and 2^nd place, or the grant pool will be divided into smaller chunks.

A Zoom videoconference about the Anti-Racism Grant competition will be held at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 22. Its purposes will be to present an overview of the SIOP Foundation Anti-Racism Grant program and to respond to questions. The URL for this Zoom meeting will be shared closer to the meeting date. Questions about the SIOP Foundation Anti-Racism Grants and this initial grant competition can also be emailed to SIOPFoundation@siop.org. Answers will be posted online.

The winning project proposal(s) will be announced Monday, Aug. 24.

I-O psychologists conduct and apply research that improves the well-being and performance of people and the organizations that employ them. Because the presence of overt and institutionalized racial discrimination constitutes direct and indirect threats to the well-being and performance of employees and employers, anti-racism in the workplace is a topic that I-O psychology as a field must address. More information about SIOP’s Stand Against Racism can be found online.