Social Science Research Council

Call for Applications

The Transitions to College Program of the Social Science Research Council is pleased to announce the availability of three postdoctoral awards for new research related to transitions to college in the US. The fellowship is funded by Lumina Foundation for Education. Three grants will be made in the amount of $9,000 each.

This research is part of the ongoing work of the Transitions to College program at the SSRC. Over the last two years, with funding from Lumina Foundation for Education, a multi-disciplinary working group of social scientists has been examining the state of our knowledge about the factors that promote or impede successful transitions to college, especially for disadvantaged youth. The program's activities have included the generation of a series of review essays mapping the contribution of the various social science disciplines to our knowledge of transitions, and a policy-oriented report, Questions That Matter, which outlines key questions relating to transitions and the research that is necessary to answer them. The program has also produced an interactive website that includes a searchable database of literature on transitions to college, including both scholarly research and policy reports. (For more information about the Transitions to College Program and its work, click here.)

Goals of the Fellowship

In this second phase of the project we are seeking to deepen our knowledge about key questions relating to transitions to college. The postdoctoral grants are designed to stimulate new work on transitions that is innovative in its approach to the topic or in its methodology. These grants will complement three commissioned studies on questions of stratification, gender, and English language learners. We recommend that applicants consult the project website to familiarize themselves with the activities of the project to date, and the report Questions That Matter for a summary of areas and types of research that are lacking.