Emily Boer Drake - September 26, 2024
The MacArthur Fellowship is a multi-year, no strings attached $800,000 award given to individuals each year who demonstrate exceptional creativity. Learning for Action and Public Profit partnered on the evaluation of the MacArthur Foundation’s Fellowship Award, supplemented with public polling research from the Harris Poll.
It’s been exciting for us to support MacArthur with learning about such a renowned program and we’re delighted that the findings are now publicly available, and we can share the learnings with the field. You can explore the findings and read a Perspectives piece from the MacArthur Foundation on how they’re thinking about the evaluation.
Photo by Júnior Ferreira on Unsplash
The Evaluation: Gathering Feedback and Understanding Experiences
The evaluation included a survey and focus groups with Fellows, feedback from Nominators and Selectors, landscape research of other awards programs, and a public poll of the program’s perception. We investigated questions such as how the fellowship stands out among other award programs 40 years after its launch, what impact the award has on Fellows, how Fellows experience the process of becoming a Fellow, and what feedback those who participate in the nomination and selection process have. We dug into the findings with the Foundation’s staff and board and are excited to share the highlights of what we learned.
The Fellowship’s Defining Characteristics
The Fellowship continues to occupy a unique niche in the field of award programs. The award amount, no-strings-attached obligations, interdisciplinary nature, and focus on identifying future promise set it apart from other awards.
The award recognizes individuals who exemplify extraordinary creativity, inspire others, have the courage to challenge and disrupt systems when necessary, and do catalytic work in interdisciplinary spaces. The nature of the Fellows themselves – and the distinctive way in which they embody creativity – is a hallmark of the program. Fellows are not only leaders in their fields for their exemplary research or artistic endeavors, but they also pursue their work in ways that push the boundaries of their fields, challenge the status quo of systems, tackle questions related to today’s most pressing challenges, and explore paths not yet taken by others.
Perceptions of the Fellows Program among the Engaged Public are on par or even more favorable in 2023 than in 2012. This includes the perception that the award recognizes creativity and supports people who make important contributions to society.
Fellows’ Experiences and Outcomes
The program has significant impacts on Fellows’ professional and personal lives such as enabling Fellows to engage in new creative projects, expand previous work, or act on ideas they were incubating prior to receiving the award. Fellows report transformative impacts, including increased legitimacy, freedom to take risks, collaborations, expanded networks, financial stability, and self-confidence.
The impact of the Fellowship is more pronounced for some Fellows, often based on their identity and lived experience, while some experience negative impacts. Many women Fellows reported they received a particular boost through the award.
The Fellowship’s Broader Impact on People Close to the Fellows and Fellows’ Fields
The Fellowship can have positive ripple effects on Fellows’ peers and in the Fellows’ fields. Peers and students of Fellows experience increased validity and legitimacy for their work. The Fellowship also brings increased attention to Fellows’ fields of work, resulting in increased publicity and resources for those fields, which can be especially valuable for less recognized fields.
Feedback on the Program
Fellows deeply appreciate the opportunities to engage with each other across fields and class years. In-person gatherings are a source of inspiration, exchange of ideas, relationships–including emotional support–and collaboration.
Major changes to the nomination, selection, and award process are not needed, however ongoing fine tuning is appropriate. While the feedback from Nominators and Selectors was generally positive, the Foundation is considering identified opportunities to further improve the experience of the program for its partners.
Special thanks to our partners Jes, Justine, and Vivian at Public Profit and all the members of the LFA team who worked on this project over the past two years–Alex, Jessica, Minh, Ellyn, Emma, and Annie.