35 years of PROPS: UCLA’s transformative program supports rising psychology students

It wasn't a given that Jocelyn Meza would become a UCLA professor - let alone a Bruin or even a high school graduate.

"I was the first in my family to do any of those things," she said. "I think my mom completed second grade; my dad did some high school. I didn't really know what 'college' was until I got there, and I didn't know what graduate school was until I applied to UCLA PROPS."

Meza is one of hundreds of Bruins whose lives have been changed thanks to PROPS, more formally known as Psychology Research Opportunity Programs. Since 1990, PROPS has been a transformative opportunity offered by the UCLA Department of Psychology to give annual cohorts of approximately 20 undergraduate students the grounding in research and experience necessary to become competitive graduate school candidates.

It paid off for Meza in spades: after earning her bachelor's degree in psychology from UCLA and a wealth of related research experience and guidance through PROPS, she was able to earn her master's and doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, she is an assistant professor-in-residence of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Making journeys like Meza's possible by connecting Bruins to the experience and community they need for research careers doesn't just affect these students. It's also impactful for the UCLA faculty and staff who make it possible in the first place.

"I was director of PROPS for 10 years and it was one of the highlights of my career, if not the highlight," said Jaana Juvonen, professor emerita of psychology. "As far as I know, Jocelyn is our only PROPS graduate who became a faculty member at UCLA - so far - but we have a wonderful track record of our alumni going on to achieve faculty positions."

Designed to help undergraduates who may not otherwise have the resources or support to consider psychology research as a potential academic and/or professional path, PROPS offers its students a modest stipend while broadening their horizons by providing them with concrete opportunities, resources and a supportive community. Not only are participants connected with faculty and graduate student research mentors, but they are also set up to engage in hands-on research, both in faculty labs and through independent research of their own.

In addition, PROPS students participate in a weekly seminar where they have the opportunity to learn from guest speakers and one another. That includes everything from research careers in psychology to graduate programs to the logistics of writing a CV and even tips for succinctly communicating their research interests to a general audience.

"I get so much joy from this program and its students - in fact, it's one of the reasons why I wanted to come to UCLA in the first place," said Patrick Wilson, professor of psychology and current PROPS director. "My own scientific career was fostered by people who valued my curiosity and potential, and I am so proud to be able to do the same by helping set this foundation to launch students forward in their careers and lives."

Unlike other cohort-based programs, it can be difficult to quantify in statistics the full impact of PROPS over its 30+ years, especially because participants do not typically follow a linear path. In fact, they are encouraged after graduation from UCLA to take a few years off to focus on gaining further research experience before applying to a doctoral program.

"For me, the most meaningful way to think about the ongoing, enduring impact of PROPS is to think about the major life transformations we see every year: the empowerment, the gained confidence and skillsets, everything," Juvonen said. "We really get to know these students and their challenges and successes, and we encourage them to stay in touch indefinitely so we can continue the support. Years later, we still get requests for letters of recommendation, and we're always ready to help."

Meza can attest to the fact that PROPS may technically run for two quarters of a student's tenure, but, in actuality, can last a lifetime. In fact, she realized her dream for her own future became achievable because of the program.

"PROPS gave me the perspective and the footing to realize that I wanted to be a professor here at UCLA," she said. "It also gave me the resilience to not lose sight of that when I heard how hard it would be to make that happen - you can never tell a first-generation Latina student she can't do something because it's only going to motivate her more."

Today, Meza has more than achieved her dream and launched her own lab, where she focuses on youth mental health and suicide predictors, but she has gone one step further. PROPS directly inspired her to partner with key mental health leaders to launch a statewide version of the program for high school students.

In partnership with the Child Mind Institute and faculty from UCLA and Charles Drew University, the Youth Mental Health Academy follows a similar playbook to PROPS and has had a similar impact: many students in its first cohort have already earned acceptance into UCLA despite, like Meza, not having an idea of what college was beforehand.

"Youth Mental Health Academy is helping thousands of students across California learn how to get into college and pursue mental health careers," Meza said, "and a lot of them are saying the same thing I'm saying right now about PROPS: I wouldn't have known or gotten the opportunities I have had if it hadn't been for this program."