Journal of Education & Social Policy

How Are We Developing Student Leaders? A Qualitative Examination of a Peer-to-Peer Program at a Historically Black University
Comfort Okpala, Ed.D; Dr. Deborah Boston, Ph.D; Dr. Emetrude Lewis, Ph.D.

Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of Peer Assisted Leadership Program (PALP) on 40 doctoral students’ leadership development and persistence. PALP is a structured peer leadership program designed for doctoral students in leadership studies. The goal was to foster continued learning experiences of the students. The program was designed with adult learning model (Boyd & William, 2010; Caffarella, 2002) with the potential for transformative learning based on the structure, purpose, and the learning experiences from the program. Using multiple data collection and analytical methods, the findings show that PALP was instrumental in developing transformative student leaders. The findings have practical, policy, and leadership implications.

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