Agencies Asked To Collect Data On Grant Applicants

Members of Congress are calling on the Departments of Energy and Defense and NASA to collect demographic information about their grant applicants that can be used to check for sex discrimination and other biases. Reps. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), and Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) made their request to the three agencies in the wake of a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found that of the six agencies that fund some 90% of federal research grants, only NSF, NIH, and the National Institute of Food & Agriculture collect demographic information from applicants. Analysis of these data could elucidate any gaps between grant award success rates for female and male researchers, GAO says. DOE, DOD, and NASA representatives told investigators that they did not collect this information because there is no legal requirement to do so and they had no internal use for it, the report adds. According to the Justice Department, agencies are not prohibited from collecting demographic information from grant applicants.