James L. Outtz Grant for Student Research on Diversity

Proposals should involve empirical research, theory and application in any area of I-O psychology (e.g., employee relations, equal employment opportunity, human factors, job analysis, job design, organizational development, organizational behavior, leadership, position classification, safety, selection, training) that focuses specifically on diversity. However, the main focus of the submission must be on diversity.

An overarching goal of bestowing this grant is to create more excellence in diversity research that is highly translatable to practice. Thus, considerable weight will be given to whether the proposal consists of a solid connection between research and practice. In addition, the principal investigator of the project must be a SIOP student affiliate.

Guidelines for proposal budgets

It is the explicit policy of the James L. Outtz Grant for Student Research on Diversity that grant funds may not be used for overhead or indirect costs. In the committees' experience, most universities will waive overhead and indirect costs under two circumstances: (a) the grant is relatively modest in size, and/or (b) the awarding institution (i.e. SIOP) does not allow it. If the above statement disallowing funds to be used for overhead is insufficient, the chair of the awards subcommittee will provide additional documentation and evidence explicitly recognizing this policy. View the grant webpage for more informationopens in new window.

Size of grant

The maximum grant amount for the Outtz Research Grant is $3,000.

Nominations must:

• Be proposed by a graduate-level SIOP Student Affiliate to support a master's thesis or dissertation research involving empirical research, theory, and application in any area of I-O psychology. The project should be ongoing at the time of grant application. Postdoctoral students and faculty members are not eligible.
• Focus on diversity, extending and broadening our theoretical and empirical knowledge of diversity in the workplace. Preference will be given to projects that focus on historically underrepresented and under researched groups in the United States. (Examples of diversity research may include, but are not limited to, age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.)
• Create a solid connection between research and practice, such that the project itself is applied or it has obvious practical ramifications for organizations seeking to improve the experiences of employees who are diverse.
• Have a sound basis in science and practice such that the proposal represents technical adequacy (including issues of internal validity, external validity), appropriate methodology, appropriately planned statistical analyses, theoretical rigor and soundness, and demonstrable application.

Additional Criteria

• Significance: Proposal addresses an important problem related to diversity relevant to both the academic and practitioner membership of SIOP.
• Appropriateness of budget: Clear justification and rationale for the expenditure of the grant monies; proposed work be accomplished with the funds requested, but if not, other funding sources are available.
• Research approach: An assessment of the overall quality of the conceptual framework, design, methods and planned analyses.
• Innovation: Proposed research contains novel concepts, approaches or methods.
• Aimed at a wide audience: Proposal is clear, understandable and communicable to a wide audience and has implications for all members of SIOP (academics and practitioners).
• Realistic timeframe: Likelihood that the project can be completed within one year of award date.
• Academic-practitioner partnership: Involves a partnership between an academic and practitioner or has obvious application to practice.

The proposal should adhere to accepted formatting guidelines (e.g., APA guidelines) and should include the following sections:

1. Abstract.
2. Literature review and rationale for the project.
3. Method — including information about the sample, measures, data collection strategies and analytical strategies.
4. Implications for both academicians and practitioners.
5. Budget and justification for expenditures of the grant funds.

Proposals should not exceed 10 pages of text (not including references, tables and appendices). The proposal should be double spaced and use a 12-point font and 1 inch margins. The proposal must be a single document, either a Word document or a .pdf file, named to indicate the first author, as follows: lastname.doc or lastname.pdf.

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