The Russell Sage Foundation recently approved 12 research grants in its programs on Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; Future of Work; and Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; in its special initiatives Immigration and Immigrant Integration and Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility. One grant was co-funded by the Spencer and Hewlett Foundations.

These research projects include studies on how to best motivate electoral participation among criminal court-impacted populations; how guilt, trust in one’s lawyer, and likelihood of conviction at trial influence plea deal acceptance by defendants; the impact of Delaware’s Student Excellence Equals Degree scholarship on educational and employment outcomes; a historical examination of how immigration policies have shaped public perceptions of immigrants; how changes to immigration policy affect the integration of new arrivals; how Historically Black Colleges and Universities are adapting to the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court ruling; whether presenting diversity as already high and the current status quo, as opposed to a future shift, can reduce prejudice; and how exposure to stigmatizing and destigmatizing messages shape political participation among Latinos.

Following is a list of the recent grants. Please click on each for a brief description of the research project.

Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context

Natasha Pilkauskas (University of Michigan), H. Luke Shaefer (University of Michigan), Helen Levy (University of Michigan), Thomas Crossley (University of Michigan), and Noura Insolera (University of Michigan) will collect and analyze nationally representative data on food (in)sufficiency.

Naomi Sugie (University of California, Los Angeles) and Emily Rong Zhang (University of California, Berkeley) will investigate how to best motivate electoral participation among criminal court-impacted populations.

Theodore Wilson (University at Albany - State University of New York) and Christi Metcalfe (University of South Carolina) will examine how guilt, trust in one’s lawyer, and likelihood of conviction at trial influence plea deal acceptance by defendants.

Future of Work

Florence Ran (University of Delaware) and Hojung Lee (Rice University) will estimate the impact of Delaware’s Student Excellence Equals Degree scholarship on educational and employment outcomes.

Immigration and Immigrant Integration

Xuechunzi Bai (University of Chicago) will conduct a historical examination of how immigration policies have shaped public perceptions of immigrants.

Ernesto Castañeda (American University), Lauren Carruth (American University), and Maria De Jesus (American University) will examine how changes to immigration policy affect the integration of new arrivals.

Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility

Royel Johnson (University of Southern California) and Jessica DeCuir-Gunby (University of Southern California) will examine how Historically Black Colleges and Universities are adapting to the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court ruling. – This grant is co-funded by the Spencer and Hewlett Foundations.

Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration

Jennifer Gutsell (Brandeis University) will examine whether presenting diversity as already high and the current status quo, as opposed to a future shift, can reduce prejudice.

Natalie Masuoka (University of California, Los Angeles) will document the variation of ease in accessing voter resources in difference language as well as the impact of this variation on trust in the government and electoral participation.

Gandalf Nicolas (Rutgers University, New Brunswick) will examine racial groups’ metastereotypes—beliefs that a person holds about how their group is stereotyped by others—about Artificial Intelligence Large Language Models.

Alcides Velasquez (University of Kansas) and Rikki Roscoe (University of Kansas) will examine how exposure to stigmatizing and destigmatizing messages shape political participation among Latinos.

Angela Zorro Medina (University of Toronto) will create and analyze a statute-level dataset of state anti-gang legislation enacted from 1988 to 2024.