Leadership Studies Ed.D. Dissertations

Building African College Student Leaders: The Role of Campus Community Service

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Patrick Pauken

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to describe the impact of campus community service on the leadership development of three senior-level African undergraduate university students who participated in campus community service. Campus community service was defined as unpaid voluntary service that seeks to mutually benefit the community and the volunteer. This research study was a biographic, life history research study that used the college impact model (Terenzini et al., 1996) that postulates that six constructs (i.e., pre-college, curricular, in class, out-of-class, institutional context, and outcomes) explain the educational outcomes of college students. The study involved three senior level African undergraduate students who were studying at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, US. The students discussed with me about their life stories by capturing experiences that contributed s to their leadership development. The study revealed that campus community service plays an important role in college students’ leadership development. The study also revealed that college impact model helps to explain the experiences that impact African college students’ leadership development who are studying in US universities. I addition, the study found that African students sacrifice a lot in the course of their community service, become internationalized by their study abroad experience, follow their hearts in times of uncertainty, and leverage their position for the benefit of their countries. Additionally, the study found out that gender played a role in leadership development and that there is need for more leadership education opportunities for college students. The study contributes, among others, to the understanding of the experiences that impacts the leadership development of students and more particularly the role of campus community service in the leadership development of African college students studying in the US.

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