Traditionally, research on student leadership development has been exclusive and focused primarily on the experiences of White, male undergraduate student leaders. Therefore, there is little knowledge about the leadership development of Black female undergraduate students. This exploratory study attempts to fills a gap in the student leadership development literature by examining and understanding the various sources of support and influence associated with the leadership experiences of Black female undergraduate students at predominantly White institutions.

This study employed a combination of critical qualitative research and phenomenological methods in order to answer the guiding research question: What are the various sources of support and influence associated with the leadership experiences of Black female undergraduate students? Three in-depth semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conduced with ten Black female undergraduate students attending a large, public, predominantly White, research institution located in the Midwest.

From the data analysis, three major themes emerged: (1) sources of influence and support, (2) self-perceptions, and (3) rationale for being a leader as well as two paradoxical themes: (1) the perception of the lack of issues of race and gender and (2) inability to identify leadership obstacles faced by Black female undergraduate student leaders at a predominantly White institution.

The findings from this study provide insight for understanding the leadership development and support mechanisms of Black female undergraduate student leaders at predominantly White institutions. Most importantly, the findings from this study are useful for assisting higher education stakeholders in improving practices and policies related to student leadership development as well as expand the research on Black female undergraduate student leaders.