Expanding leadership learning and engagement to a more diverse student body is a critical component of American higher education, yet not enough attention is placed on how varied lived experiences may influence leadership development and practice. One such understudied lived experience is the phenomenon of parental divorce during childhood. Data suggests that over one-quarter of entering college students may have divorced parents, which literature indicates can have ongoing implications over the course of time (Amato, 2000; Demo & Fine, 2010; Kennedy & Ruggles, 2014). Connecting divorce and leadership literature through the relational leadership model (Komives, Lucas, & McMahon, 1998; 2013), this phenomenological study explored how the parental divorce experience during childhood influences female undergraduate student leaders, an understudied population that may thrive in relational leadership settings. Nine undergraduate women enrolled in leadership certificate program courses at a research extensive university in the southern United States were interviewed. Participants reflected upon their parents’ divorce and shared ways they believed it shaped their knowledge, behaviors, and actions. Participants reported how their parents’ divorce influenced their leadership readiness, learning, and engagement as they described and engaged in leadership through the lens of their parental divorce experience. Presenting the parental divorce experience as a leadership context, this study contends relational leadership learning and engagement aids in the development of relational skills. Implications for future research and practice are discussed, including more attention to the parental divorce experience with regards to leadership and higher education. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / May 3, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathy L. Guthrie, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeannine Turner, University Representative; Lara Perez-Felkner, Committee Member; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_647182 |
| Contributors | Acosta, Danielle Morgan (author), Guthrie, Kathy L. (professor directing dissertation), Turner, Jeannine E (university representative), Perez-Felkner, Lara (committee member), Schwartz, Robert A. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (176 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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