The Ford Foundation has awarded the Divinity School a three-year grant for research in women's studies in religion.

The grant will enable the women's studies program in religion to become a national resource center, Constance Buchanan, director of Women's Programs at the Divinity School, said yesterday.

George Rupp, dean of the Divinity School, said yesterday, "The main benefit of the program is that it allows us to examine how the role of women has been institutionalized and symbolized in religious tradition."

The school will appoint five full-time associates in the field in March for the academic year 1981-82. Their research will "integrate women's perspectives into the main curriculum," the foundation's newsletter said. In addition to publishing their research, the associates will design and teach seminars that will serve as models for future courses.

The school qualified for the grant after submitting a 30-page description of planned research projects in 1979, and the foundation announced the award over the summer.

The Divinity School has set up a national advisory committee of leaders in the field of women's studies in religion to select issues for research.

The Divinity School's research program in women's studies began in 1973 with five part-time scholars.