New Grant Programs Relating to Women in Higher Education

Dr. Dallaire

Here is this week’s news of grants that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, received a two-year, $316,269 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for a program to provide pregnancy testing and support to women in local jails and prisons. Women inmates who are pregnant will receive counseling, nutrition information, and prenatal vitamins.

The program is being led by Danielle Dallaire, associate professor of psychology and Catherine Forestell, assistant professor of psychology, at the college.

The University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University will share a five-year, $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for a program to determine if pregnant women are more likely to report domestic violence in a an online survey than they would to a human counselor during an at-home visit. Some 4,000 women will participate in the survey. Half will be asked about domestic violence during at-home visits by healthcare professionals. The other 2,000 women will be given tablet computers on which they will complete the survey. Researchers hypothesize that women using the tablet computer will be 33 percent more likely to report domestic violence than the women interviewed at home by healthcare professionals.

The GE Foundation, the charitable arm of the multinational conglomerate, General Electric, has pledged $1.6 million to the nonprofit organization Pratham for its Open School initiative. The program aims to provide education and vocational training to women in rural areas of India.