Community College Students' Experiences with a Leadership Program

Through the analysis of qualitative data, this interpretative phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of community college students to gain an understanding of how they perceived their participation in leadership training. The research draws on the data gathered from in-depth interviews with three community college students attending a public institution in the northeastern United States. Utilizing student development theory as a theoretical framework, this study provided rich descriptions of the participants' experiences following leadership training and the sense they constructed from their experiences. The emergent themes produced by this study included (1) sense of belonging and positive relationships, (2) increased selfconfidence, (3) increased self-awareness and self-monitoring, (4) understanding of personal identity, and (5) willingness to take initiative. This study served as a step to further understand the community college demographic participating inleadership training as there is an inherent lack of empirical literature in this realm.