The William T. Grant Foundation is pleased to announce that William T. Grant Scholars Elizabeth Ananat and Sara Goldrick-Rab have received Scholars Mentoring Awards. These two-year $60,000 awards will support their mentoring relationships with Dania Francis and Jesus Renteria, two junior researchers of color.

The Scholars Mentoring Award was designed to support the professional development of William T. Grant Scholars and help more researchers of color reach higher levels on the career ladder. The award facilitates the growth of Scholars as strong mentors attuned to the career development challenges disproportionately faced by their junior colleagues of color. It also helps mentees become more skilled researchers with broader professional networks and resources.

Dr. Ananat is an assistant professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Dania Francis, is a third-year doctoral student who shares Dr. Ananat’s interest in education policy and practice. Their joint research project is entitled “Teacher Bias in Gifted Identification: The Role of School and Classroom Settings.” Dr. Goldrick-Rab is a newly tenured professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jesus Renteria, is a second-year doctoral student. They share a common research interest in inequality in higher education and the ways that race, social class, and gender affect college students.

To qualify for this award, William T. Grant Scholars must be in the first three years of the five-year Scholars program. (The Scholars Program supports five-year research projects and career development for promising early-career researchers.) Mentees must be full-time doctoral students or post-doctoral fellows. Applicants submit a mentoring plan that helps the junior researcher develop stronger research skills and professional networks while cultivating the mentor’s skills. Applications are screened for the quality of the proposed mentoring plan and research projects, and the junior researcher’s promise for a career in research.