UC San Diego

Foster youth graduate from college at lower rates than their nonfoster youth peers. Only 10% of foster youth graduate with an associate degree, and less than 3% graduate with a bachelor's degree (Courtney et al., 2011), and there is a significant achievement gap between foster youth and nonfoster youth students (Emerson & Bassett, 2010; Hussar et al., 2020; Ryan et al., 2007; Zetlin et al., 2004). Thus, foster youth require leaders to develop sustainable and supportive programs at community colleges to help them reach their educational goals. Researchers examining foster youth in community colleges have focused primarily on the lack of program evaluation (Hernandez & Naccarato, 2010; Miller et al., 2017; Unrau et al., 2017). As such, research on nonformal leaders charged with developing an equity-minded campus-based program is limited. This phenomenological study employed cultural proficiency and exemplary leadership frameworks as a dual lens to understand the influence nonformal leaders' personal values and campus perceptions have on developing an equity-minded program. After semistructured interviews with 10 nonformal leaders, results indicated that they remained in their roles primarily due to their personal values. They often had negative perceptions of their campus, and nine participants reported a disconnect between their personal values and their campus values. However, they remained at the campus because of their personal values and desire to serve students. Understanding nonformal leaders' perceptions (i.e., ways of thinking) and beliefs (i.e., ideas that inform our perceptions) was essential. The researcher concluded that nonformal leaders' campus perceptions influence the program and its development. Of the 10 participants, two left their college due to their campus perceptions. Moreover, the study revealed that equity exists within the ten foster youth programs, because of the nonformal leaders' personal values and without their personal values equity would be nonexistent. This was due to lack of equity existing within the college campus system.