Diverse opportunities
Where students can find funding and training targeted toward diversity.
A wealth of
grants, fellowships and mentoring opportunities for research, service and training are available
for students underrepresented in psychology and their departments. Here are some:
 APA's Minority Fellowship Program provides financial support and professional guidance
to doctoral students in psychology and neuroscience. Its ultimate aim is to increase America's
knowledge of issues related to ethnic-minority mental health and to improve the quality of mental
health treatment delivered to ethnic-minority populations. Included are fellowships funded
by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in mental health and substance
abuse services; and fellowships funded by the National Institute of Mental Health in mental health
and substance abuse research, HIV/AIDS research and neuroscience. For more information, visit
MFP's Web site at www.apa.org/mfp.
The Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (SMEP), a professional association
of psychological research scientists, provides full funding for entering grad students and college
seniors underrepresented in psychology to attend an annual three-day Summer Training Workshop
in Measurement. SMEP members help to ground students in the methods of multivariate statistics—that
is, in analyzing patterns versus just single variables.
The 2007 workshop will likely be held in San Francisco right before APA's Annual Convention.
An application form is available at www.psychologicalresources.com/SMEP_Minority_Student_Conf_App.htm
or by contacting program director Herb Eber, PhD, via e-mail.
Another program for the statistics-shy is the APA Science Directorate's Advanced Statistical
Training in Psychology program. This nine-day summer program is geared to undergrads from underrepresented
groups in psychology, including students of color, first-generation college students and students
who have overcome other social, physical or economic barriers to academic excellence and who plan
to pursue advanced degrees in psychological research. Students learn about statistics and research
methods from award-winning professors at major research institutes who teach in a hands-on, dynamic
way. Much of the statistical instruction is geared toward use of computer-assisted statistical
packages.
In 2007, the program will be held in Washington, D.C., July 14–22. Participants pay a
$200 registration fee and provide for their own travel, and APA covers the cost of room, board, lectures
and labs. However, scholarships are available for those who can't afford the travel and registration
fees.
For more information, visit the ASTP Web site at www.apa.org/science/astp.html or contact
the Science Directorate at (202) 336-6000; e-mail.
APA's Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs provides money and travel funds to a doctoral
student whose 2005 or 2006 dissertation contributes in an outstanding way to the understanding
of, service delivery to, or new thinking on people of color. The award, the Jeffrey S. Tanaka Memorial
Dissertation Award in Psychology, is named after Jeffrey S. Tanaka, PhD, a psychologist of color
whose career emphasized the importance of culture and ethnicity in the scientific understanding
of behavior. Judges pick the winner based on creativity and effectiveness of research design.
The winner receives a $500 cash prize, a $300 travel award and an invitation to present the dissertation
at APA's Annual Convention.
To apply, send five copies of a 1,000-word abstract of your dissertation to the APA Office of
Ethnic Minority Affairs, at the APA address; (202) 336-6029. Four of the copies should be anonymous,
and one copy should include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Please include the
dissertation title on all of the copies. The next deadline is April 1.
APA's Diversity Project 2000 and Beyond (DP2kB) is a leadership and mentoring program
designed for ethnic-minority honor students attending community colleges. Its aim is to encourage
these students to become professional psychologists in practice, education or research. DP2kB
occurs two days before and two days during APA's Annual Convention and offers full grants for out-of-state
students and partial grants for local students admitted into the program.
For more information, visit www.apa.org/pi/oema/programs/dp2kb.html.
APA's Disability Issues Office offers a mentoring program that brings psychology students
with disabilities, disabled psychologists entering the field and newly disabled psychologists
together with APA-member psychologists with disabilities who provide educational and professional
mentoring support. The application contains terms and conditions of participation. For more
information, visit www.apa.org/pi/disability/mentoring/about.html.
The Minority Affairs Committee of Div. 41 (American Psychology-Law Society) has created
an Ambassadors Program to recruit minority undergraduates to graduate study in psychology and
law. The program will send psychology and law experts to historically black colleges and Hispanic-serving
institutions to introduce students to the field and develop mentoring pipelines between the institutions
and graduate psychology and law programs. The experts will meet with students and present their
specialty areas of research within psychology and law, as well as provide students with an overview
of the field, information on relevant graduate programs and the opportunity to discuss career
options. For more information, or to volunteer to serve as an expert, contact Roslyn M. Caldwell,
PhD, Minority Affairs Committee chair, via e-mail.
APA's Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training (CEMRRAT)
offers small-grants funding for innovative departmental minority recruitment, retention and
training initiatives. Applications are funded on a first-come, first-served basis. The 2007
grant cycle began on Jan. 1. More information is available at www.apa.org/pi/oema/programs/CEMRRAT_request_for_proposals-2007.pdf.
By Tori DeAngelis
Tori DeAngelis is a writer in Syracuse, N.Y.
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