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The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.

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Program Description

Overview The Young Women’s Leadership Alliance (YWLA) is an after school program for girls in three high schools in Santa Cruz, California, that promotes leadership through youth–adult partnerships and action research. Participants take a leading role in identifying concerns and advocating for educational equity (regardless of gender, cultural background, or physical ability) in their own schools.
Start Date 2000
Scope local
Type after school
Location urban
Setting public school
Participants high school students
Number of Sites/Grantees 3
Number Served 256 over 3 years
Components The program meets once a week after school for 15 sessions and is offered once a semester, twice each academic year. All 9th–11th grade girls at three primarily middle class high schools are invited to participate; recruitment is done at lunchtime and through posted announcements. In addition, teachers nominate girls they think have leadership potential. Some girls receive course credit for participation.

Activities are divided into three components: (a) equity awareness – girls explore the concept of equity, defined as the ability to pursue goals without unfair barriers, through reflections on personal and observed experiences of inequity and experiential team-building activities; (b) research – girls define an equity issue at their school, then design and conduct a research project to study it, including writing research questions, creating a survey, writing a data collection plan, and then collecting, entering, analyzing, and graphing the data; and (c) social action – girls plan a social action project building on their research findings and then implement a public forum and/or small media campaign about the chosen equity issue to raise awareness and promote equity at their school.

Two adult leaders run the program. Training for the adult leaders is provided in the educational approaches of cooperative learning structures, constructivism, informal consensus process, and experiential education. Staff training takes three forms: formal skills training, professional coaching, and individual professional development plans.
Funding Level $131,665 in 2002–2003 ($600,000 including program development and evaluation)
Funding Source United States Department of Education, through the Women’s Educational Equity Act Program


Evaluation

Overview The study of YWLA seeks to identify program strategies and adult practices that build youth–adult partnerships, focusing especially on strategies to empower girls to create social change.
Evaluators Jill Denner, Education, Training, and Research Associates
Evaluations Profiled Young Women’s Leadership Alliance: Youth–Adult Partnerships in an All-Female After-School Program

Young Women’s Leadership Alliance Final Performance Report
Evaluations Planned Future evaluations will examine YWLA’s impact on program participants, the benefits of the equity activities to all students at the schools where the program is held, and changes in overall school and district policies and practices in educational equity resulting from the project.
Report Availability Denner, J., Meyer, B., & Bean, S. (2005). Young Women’s Leadership Alliance: Youth–adult partnerships in an all-female after-school program. Journal of Community Psychology, 33(1), 87–100.

Education, Training, and Research Associates. (2005). Young Women’s Leadership Alliance final performance report. Scotts Valley, CA: Author.


Contacts

Evaluation Jill Denner
Education, Training, and Research Associates
4 Carbonero Way
Scotts Valley, CA 95006
Tel: 831-438-4060, Ext. 264
Email: jilld@etr.org
Program Steve Bean
Senior Program Manager
4 Carbonero Way
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
Tel: 831-438-4060
Email: steveb@etr.org
Profile Updated February 3, 2006

Evaluation 2: Young Women’s Leadership Alliance: Youth–Adult Partnerships in an All-Female After-School Program


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To answer the following questions: (a) What program practices did adults use in this setting to build supportive partnerships with girls, and (b) were these practices effective in engaging and empowering the girls?
Evaluation Design Non-Experimental: Analyses were conducted on a variety of program documents, observations of program sessions and special events, and in-depth interviews with program participants and staff over five semesters of the program’s operation. The data come from 164 girls who completed the program (68% Caucasian, 21% Latina, 8% Asian American, 5% African American). This included 19 girls who participated in the program multiple times.
Data Collection Methods Document Review: At the last program session of each semester, each girl wrote in her journal a response to the question: “What was your favorite part of YWLA? Why?” Their responses were only shared out loud with the group if the girls chose to do so, but all responses were analyzed to understand which aspects of the program girls found useful. Data were also collected from weekly logs kept by the two staff members describing leadership behaviors observed, especially relating to how girls influenced program structure and voiced opinions.

Interviews/Focus Groups: One-on-one interviews were conducted with 34 girls selected to represent a range of grades, leadership styles, and race/ethnicity. Questions centered on perceptions of the purpose of the program, things done in the program that were surprising or that the girls had never done before, comments about program leaders and guest speakers, and whether the program made them feel more like a leader. Interviews were also conducted with both staff members to assess partnerships between them and the girls, strategies used to create effective partnerships, similarities to and differences from teaching and mentoring, changes in the ways they worked with girls over the course of the program, and unique issues relating to partnerships specifically with girls and women.

Observation: Observations were conducted approximately twice a month over the five semesters, looking at interactions between youth and adult leaders, and the leadership styles of each.
Data Collection Timeframe Data were collected between 2001 and 2004.


Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Staffing/Training The data analysis led to the identification of seven effective practices, which were grouped into two overarching strategies for building youth–adult partnerships and empowering female youth: (a) guidance, not instruction, and (b) creating a place to be authentic.

The first practice that was identified under the “guidance, not instruction,” category was adults providing girls with the tools and skills to make group decisions. For example, adult leaders guided girls through a decision-making process about their research topic by asking each girl to write down at least one equity topic and share that idea with their group. Girls voted to determine the top three choices, which they then evaluated, scoring them on relevance and interest. The girls went through a process of consensus decision-making with the topic that got the highest score, in which each girl had a chance to say whether that topic was acceptable and to voice her concerns.

The second practice identified under “guidance, not instruction,” was promoting a safe environment in order to build trust among the girls and between girls and adults. Staff accomplished this by asking girls to write ground rules, giving unconditional positive regard and support, modeling positive feedback, and having high expectations of the group. Encouraging the participation of quieter girls was also an important component of this practice, which was accomplished by forming smaller working groups that included a peer facilitator who could draw out the quieter girls.

The third practice identified under “guidance, not instruction,” was focusing the program on a topic that the girls were interested in and that emphasized the importance of voice. The adults brought knowledge about the social and historical contexts of equity, whereas the girls brought their experience analyzing social contexts, knowledge about the most pressing equity issues at their school, and a personal commitment to create change.

The fourth practice identified under “guidance, not instruction,” was adults legitimizing and supporting a range of leadership styles among the youth. Adults identified a range of styles and roles, including being a critical thinker, teacher, anchor, peacemaker, or supporter. Girls led group discussions and decision-making but also adopted less typical leadership roles, such as time-keeper, “vibes watcher,” and scribe (recording what others said). This allowed all girls to be leaders—even those who did not feel comfortable facilitating a group. Adults used questions to facilitate trying out new or challenging roles without telling girls what to do, such as “What are you going to do if girls have a hard time listening to you or to other girls in your group?” or “What did you notice worked well when you facilitated before?”

Interviews revealed that the four “guidance, not instruction,” practices were effective in creating youth–adult partnerships. Though some youth reported a desire for more structure and adult decision-making, both girls and adults noted that these practices created an interdependent form of leadership in which different leadership roles were supported, enabling a focus on social justice and equity, which created an environment in which both youth and adults were able to challenge each other.

The first practice that was identified under “creating a place to be authentic” (i.e., a place where girls feel safe enough to speak up about thoughts and feelings, to listen and challenge the views of others, to ask for opinions, and to have concerns and ideas taken seriously) was to create opportunities for all voices to be heard. For example, adults asked quieter girls direct questions rather than posing a question to the group. They also introduced a decision-making process in which each girl had the chance to voice opinions and decisions became final only when everyone was in agreement.

The second practice identified under “creating a place to be authentic” was to create a norm of respectful disagreement between the girls and between girls and adults. Adults allowed youth to voice disagreement and provided activities where girls learned and practiced being assertive, voicing opinions in ways to minimize the risk to relationships they valued.

The third practice identified under “creating a place to be authentic” was to create opportunities to talk about personal challenges and interests. For example, each program session started with a fun question created by one of the girls that was designed to help the adult and youth leaders to get to know each other (e.g., “If you were a cartoon character, what would you be and why?”). In addition, adult leaders and guest speakers described their personal experiences with inequity and the ways they had addressed them.

Interviews, logs, and journal entries revealed that the four “creating a place to be authentic” practices were essential in building youth–adult partnerships that empowered girls. While these practices took time, the data suggested the importance that both youth and adults placed on being authentic and being accepted for who they are and building relationships that included both respectful disagreement and listening.

 

© 2016 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
Published by Harvard Family Research Project