Jalen Moreno, a junior in our Honor’s Program, won a competitive fellowship through Div 41, the American Psychology-Law Society. Faculty recruit students from underrepresented backgrounds interested in forensic psych and nominate them for the program.
The purpose of the Access Path to Psychology and Law Experience (AP) program is to increase diversity within psychology and law by increasing the pipeline of competitive graduate school applicants from groups that currently are underrepresented in the field, including racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, LGBT individuals, and physically disabled students. AP is designed to encourage faculty members to recruit students from underrepresented groups into their research labs. It provides financial support for the students to obtain meaningful research experience and attend the AP-LS conference as well as other opportunities for mentoring and development. It is the intention of the Broadening Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, and Global Equity (BRIDGE) Committee that many of the students in the AP program will apply for graduate training related to psychology and law and ultimately become professionals in the field.
Jalen will be mentored by Dr. Kois, assist with research in the CLASS lab 10 hours a week, and receive a $3,000 stipend from AP-LS. She will receive a $500 travel award to the 2022 conference and $100 for research expenses. Her thesis project is titled, “Identifying Empowerment Mechanisms Among Justice-Involved Women.”