Segal Fund for Social Sciences Research on Military Personnel

The Division of the Social Sciences established the David R. and Mady W. Segal Fund for Social Sciences Research on Military Personnel in 2018. The purpose of the fund is to support graduate dissertation research focused on military personnel or military organization, including but not limited to the disciplines of sociology, psychology, economics, political science, history, and anthropology. Funding may be used to support research needs including data collection, travel, conference fees, dissertation support, publications, and projects that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Division will award one dissertation research support grant for $4,750 in Spring 2024. Funds are to be expended July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025.

Eligibility

University of Chicago PhD candidates from any department in the Division of the Social Sciences whose work relates to the focus areas below are encouraged to apply.

Deadline

March 1, 2024

Focus Areas

Below is a list of the types of studies, organized by level of analysis, that we seek to support through this program. Note: the fund IS NOT intended to support military studies related to international relations or national security.

• Individual: Attitudes toward the military; propensity to enlist; socialization to the culture (norms, attitudes, values.); service members’ attitudes (e.g., toward peacekeeping, integration by race, gender, sexual orientation); individual orientations to work
• Interpersonal (in Military context): Gender and sexual harassment; families; leadership; treatment by race, gender, sexual orientation; stratification norms and interpersonal behavior
• Small group (in Military context): Cohesion, including how it is affected by social diversity; effects on group performance of cohesion (task and social, horizontal and vertical); effects on group performance of social diversity; families; leadership
• Organizational: Culture and structure of the armed forces, including differences among them; organizational resistance and change
• Institutional: Norms, attitudes, values, etc. of the military institution; the military profession; relationship between the military and other social institutions (family, education, economy, political, legal, religious, communications media, etc.)
• Societal: Civil-military relations; accession policies (e.g., conscription); role of the military in society (including effects on culture); public support for the military
• Global, Cross-national analyses: Relationship between the military and civilian society; accession policies and recruitment to the military by social class, ethnicity, etc.; women’s participation; personnel policies