High School Fellowship Program Gives Research Experience

by Meghan Rich, Academic and Professional Affairs Program Assistant

Disadvantaged high school students interested in the social sciences will now have an opportunity to participate in a research program at New York University (NYU), thanks to the High School Fellowship Program at the Center for Advanced Social Science Research (CASSR). Sponsored by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, local New York City public school students are provided with $3,000 stipends so that they may spend the summer working on a social science research project full-time.

This new program was established in 2000. The plan is that each year, four students from East Side Community High School are matched up with faculty in order to undertake a research project and prepare a paper to be entered in the Intel Science Talent Competition. Participation in this competition is integral to the High School Fellowship Program because it anchors students in completing a project and ensures the inclusion and visibility of social science in this largely bench science competition.

The purpose of CASSR’s High School Fellowship Program is not just to help students create research projects and reinforce their interest in the social sciences, but also to assist students who do not have financial resources to have an intensive research experience during the summer. The skills that students develop through the High School Fellowship Program have added advantages. They serve to demystify for students what higher education and research work are about. They also serve as a springboard to college, as students can demonstrate competencies above and beyond most other new college students and a greater knowledge of research and social science fields. Through the fellowship, students will have a research project, NYU faculty recommendations, and a fellowship to add to their college applications. Dr. Dalton Conley, director of CASSR, has high hopes for this program. Conley has personal ties to this program, as he grew up in the neighborhood where East Side Community High School is located. He feels that, as the Center sponsors more fellows (one student thus far, with four more planned for this academic year), the direct and long-term positive results will become evident. If more students generally, and disadvantaged students in particular, can be attracted to the pipeline of higher education and social sciences, programs like this one will have been successful.