Nine exemplary graduate students have been selected to receive the 2014–2015 AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship in Education Research and Travel Awards. The program, targeted for members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in higher education, offers doctoral fellowships to outstanding minority graduate students and provides mentoring and guidance toward the completion of their doctoral studies. An important aim of the fellowship is to enhance the diversity of faculty at major research universities.

Fellows receive a $19,000 stipend to complete their dissertation research and writing. They, and travel awardees, also receive a $1,000 stipend for travel expenses to attend the 2015 AERA Annual Meeting and present their work in an invited dissertation poster session. Fellows also participate in a mentoring and career development workshop with current and former members of the AERA Minority Fellowship Selection Committee and other senior scholars.

“AERA is committed to improving the quality and diversity of university faculty and researchers,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Through robust support of minority scholars, this significant program continues to advance that goal.”

In February, AERA Council voted to provide additional resources to the program for the next three years, which would allow the program to fund more recipients and raise the stipend provided to them.  

The new fellows are in the final stages of their dissertation research across a broad range of topics, including potential psychological barriers to student success in mathematics, student engagement in scientific practices, and media portrayal of undocumented students. The fellows represent several fields and disciplines in education research, including policy, philosophy, and public affairs.

Fellows were selected based on their potential as faculty members or education research scholars, their dissertation study’s contribution to education research, the research methods used to conduct the study, and implications of the research. The AERA Minority Fellowship Selection Committee reviews the fellowship proposals and selects the fellows through a competitive review process.

All of these activities are part of AERA’s larger commitment to building research capacity among graduate students and providing support to emerging scholars. Past fellows have gone on to become faculty members at institutions such as the College of William & Mary, the University of Minnesota, the University of San Francisco, and Syracuse University.

The application deadline for the 2015–2016 competition is November 3, 2014. For further details about the program, eligibility requirements, and application instructions, visit the AERA Funding Opportunities webpage.