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Updated: May 30, 2026

Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects
Published on: May 10, 2019
Race, ethnicity, and NIH research awards
Donna K Ginther1, Walter T Schaffer, Joshua Schnell
1Department of Economics and Center for Science, Technology & Economic Policy, Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. dginther@ku.edu
Abstract:
We investigated the association between a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 applicant's self-identified race or ethnicity and the probability of receiving an award by using data from the NIH IMPAC II grant database, the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, and other sources. Although proposals with strong priority scores were equally likely to be funded regardless of race, we find that Asians are 4 percentage points and black or African-American applicants are 13 percentage points less likely to receive NIH investigator-initiated research funding compared with whites. After controlling for the applicant's educational background, country of origin, training, previous research awards, publication record, and employer characteristics, we find that black applicants remain 10 percentage points less likely than whites to be awarded NIH research funding. Our results suggest some leverage points for policy intervention.
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