International development studies senior Clara Prideaux (UCLA 25) grew up in Manila and arrived in Westwood to study statistics, only to find that the interdisciplinary nature of international development studies better suited her intellectual interests.

By Victoria Salcedo

UCLA International Institute, June 11, 2025 — When Clara Prideaux started her undergraduate career at UCLA, she imagined a future working with data, maybe even becoming a data scientist. Numbers had always come easily to her and she declared a major in statistics during her first year. Yet the freshman soon realized that her curiosity could not be captured by data alone.

 “I didn’t really like the lack of… applicability,” she said of her first statistics course. The desire to connect academics to lived experience drew her to the international development studies (IDS) program, where she found an approach that embraced intellectual breadth, real-world relevance and personal perspective.

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Manila, Prideaux was drawn to questions of inequality, migration and community. “Being around so many different types of people… got me really interested in (attending) a school that had that type of diversity,” she said.

At UCLA, IDS became the foundation for an academic and personal transformation that eventually led Clara Prideaux to conduct interviews with overseas Filipino workers, for a research paper on gendered migration and choose to pursue a graduate degree in business so she can one day lead a nonprofit organization.

Building an interdisciplinary foundation

International development studies became an ideal academic home for Prideaux because she was “able to merge all the different types of interests I had,” she said.

“Since I [grew] up in the Philippines… a lot of my experiences were in a ‘developing country.’ But as we've learned, that isn't the best word to use,” she related. “I think I knew in the classroom [that] I was going to be able to bring a unique lens and also learn from other people in that major. And I just thought the major was… really welcoming to so many diverse perspectives.”

Prideaux also pursued a minor in history, something she had never expected to enjoy. A Japanese film history course changed her mind. Numerous history classes built her confidence in her writing and ability to express herself — “all that I needed as a person to grow,” she reflected.

At the same time, her IDS coursework deepened her critical thinking and challenged her assumptions, especially about development and inequality. Much to her surprise, she anticipated that the obvious wealth gap the Philippines would not be so apparent in the United States. Yet, she observed, “It was kind of the reverse…. Moving to the U.S. was sort of my awakening [to] the global challenges I saw in Manila in terms of corruption, wealth gaps and inequality still exist, even in a more developed place…. It took a lot to get me there.”

IDS concepts in practice

Over four years, Prideaux applied what she learned in the classroom to internships, research projects and leadership roles. She interned for the Los Angeles City Council, a Filipino nonprofit supporting women in STEM (For the Women Foundation) and, through a UCLA Education Abroad Program, the Czech government’s gender equality division.

These experiences opened up a future career path for Prideaux. “[T]hose internships fit into the bigger [picture] of being really interested in community engagement and community outreach, and trying to blend the public sector work I did with the private sector… I think without the internship at the LA City Council and seeing more behind the scenes of what's going on in the public sector, and then also having that work with... women [in the nonprofit], made me realize [that] the LA City Council internship was very important in terms of understanding why certain things are feasible or aren't feasible,” she reflected.

The Prague program, which combined coursework with an internship, gave her the opportunity to reflect weekly on how her work connected with her academic studies. “I liked that program because you… did the internship, and then every week you'd write a reflection report.. and every other week, you’d give a presentation to your peers about what you were doing.”

In addition to multiple internships, Prideaux spent three years conducting research at Homeboy Industries under Professor Jorja Leap of UCLA’s Social Welfare Department, which required her to interview formerly incarcerated individuals about their experiences with rehabilitation. “That really built my confidence,” she recalled, “putting myself in [situations] I wasn’t used to.” The interviewing and coding skills she developed during that project would later become essential to her senior thesis, while the conversations themselves left a lasting impression. “I was very inspired by the people sharing their stories,” she remarked.

Her honors thesis, “Transnational Parenting and Migration Decisions in the Philippines: Family, Caregiving and Economic Dynamics,” brought together everything she had studied and learned in internships: women’s empowerment, gender equality, migration (especially that most people who migrate are not the poorest people in a country) and economic development. As part of her research, Prideaux interviewed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) about “how their experience [was] potentially gendered and how that shaped their migration decision,” she said. The central research question she sought to answer — “How do transnational caregiving practices shape family decision making and economic outcomes in Filipino migrant households?” — allowed her to investigate the intersection of migration, caregiving and economic aspiration.

Among her many extracurricular activities, Prideaux served as the head of health, wellness and accountability in her sorority, where she facilitated difficult conversations about safety and well-being. “Being challenged… was really helpful in having those difficult conversations in a leadership position,” she said, crediting the discussion-based classes of the IDS program and her experience with Homeboy Industries for building her confidence and the communication skills needed to navigate challenging topics.

Making a social impact

A mentor from her internship at For the Women Foundation encouraged Prideaux to gain a business foundation to better support her long-term goals. As a result, she will start a master’s in business management (a pre-MBA program for non-business majors) this fall at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. “My ultimate goal is to start my own nonprofit,” she said. She hopes to use her business training to integrate social responsibility into both the private and nonprofit sectors, building on the foundation she laid at UCLA.

Reflecting on her time in Westwood, Prideaux emphasized the importance of mentorship and community. “I think the IDS department’s strength is in… the people who are teaching there and their ability to really support you.” She advised other students to “be open to changing your mind about things and [remain] open-minded… [B]e open to doing something and potentially not liking it… I think [it’s a] very helpful experience to sometimes learn something or do something and… it wasn't what you had [imagined] in your head.”

Through IDS, Prideaux found not only academic and professional direction, but also a commitment to making an impact. “[O]ne thing I liked about the IDS is the major [was] being able to take things I learned in the classroom and bringing those to things I [was] doing outside.”

Published: Wednesday, June 11, 2025