Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on Student Leadership: Applying Student Voices to Leadership Development

Abstract

While college student leadership is well studied, the faculty role in developing student leaders is an area that is underexplored.  Twenty students joined eleven members of a faculty learning community (FLC) in a mid-sized college to discuss their perspectives on student leadership.  The FLC members/researchers used semi-structured focus group interviews and a phenomenological approach to identify traits of student leaders and to explore opportunities colleges can offer to promote students’ growth as leaders.  Using thematic analysis, this study discusses the ways colleges can use FLCs as a platform to facilitate student leadership effectively.