As part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) continued commitment to graduate student education in the U.S., the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), which began in 1952, seeks to promote and maintain advanced training in STEM fields by annually awarding roughly 2,000 fellowships per year (the annual number of fellowships awarded increased from approximately 1,000 to 2,000 in 2010) to U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents for graduate study in research-based programs. On behalf of NSF, NORC is conducting a study that will provide rigorous evidence of the impact of the GRFP on individuals’ educational decisions, career preparations, aspirations and progress, as well as professional productivity; and provide an understanding of how the program is implemented by universities and whether and how specific program policies could be adjusted to make the program more effective in meeting its goals.
Previous studies of the GRFP were largely completed in the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. The most recent study, published in 2002, examined GRFP Fellow cohorts through 1993, and is now dated. NSF needs current information on the impact of the GRF program on Fellows and institutions, and on program implementation, to inform future decisions about program structure and design that cannot be addressed either with NSF data or existing national databases. The current study focuses on the following research questions:
RQ1. What is the impact of the GRFP fellowship on the graduate school experience?
RQ2. What is the impact of the GRFP fellowship on career outcomes?
RQ3. What are the effects of the GRFP on institutions?
RQ4. Is the program design effective in meeting program goals?
The overall study approach encompasses (a) collecting primary data from Fellows and their counterparts (applicants who did not receive the award but who are similar in most respects to the Fellows) and institutions; (b) using secondary data sources such as the doctorate recipients file to provide a national context; and (c) modeling outcomes using quasi-experimental methods to compare outcomes of the treatment group (Fellows) with outcomes of plausibly similar control groups (QG2 Honorable Mentions). These methods are widely accepted as the best methods on which to base causal inferences in the absence of a randomized experiment (i.e., when it is not feasible to randomly assign participants to treatment and control groups).
In terms of primary data collection, the study will:
- Collect data from Fellows and carefully-matched counterparts (Honorable Mentions) through a survey (GRFP Follow-Up Survey) that asks about graduate school experiences, educational attainment, career outcomes, employment characteristics, and professional productivity (RQ1 and RQ2). The survey also asks Fellows about the influence of program elements (choice, flexibility, and monetary value) on their decision to enroll in and successfully complete STEM graduate programs (RQ4).
- Collect in-depth data from six institutions ( “institutional site visit sample”) through site visits which will encompass in-person interviews with administrators, faculty, and staff to understand the current climate, perceived impact of the program on Fellows, institutions, and programs, program implementation, and GRFP policies (RQ3 and RQ4).
- Collect data from a larger sample of 20 institutions ( “institutional phone sample”) through shorter phone interviews more narrowly targeted on implementation and specific GRFP policies (RQ4 and, to a more limited extent, RQ3).
The study also includes a review and analysis of similar federal fellowship programs using data collected from websites, program materials, and interviews with program officers managing these programs. This part of the study will help inform GRFP policies and best practices. The findings will be valuable in understanding how best to support Fellows and help develop a more diverse STEM workforce.