Leading in a Room Full of Boys: A Retrospective Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Leadership Experiences of Adolescent Women as a Minority in a Coed Senior High School in the Philippines

This study explored the lived experiences of seven student leaders who belonged to the first three cohorts (2018, 2019, and 2020) of female transfer students in a private Catholic senior high school in Metro Manila after years of exclusive basic education. Using retrospective IPA, participants were individually interviewed to analyze the meanings they ascribed to their leadership experiences three to six years ago. Participants recalled their challenges, coping strategies, as well positive experiences as student leaders. Following Willig’s steps in IPA, data analysis yielded the following key themes: Leadership as (a) unsafe space (for women), (b) a response to systematized injustice, (c) adaptive resilience-building, (d) building social support systems, (e) character-forming, and (f) purpose-driven. These themes were framed by the participants’ experience of gender conflict and discrimination as a minority in their new school environment. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Keywords: gender, women minority, adolescent women leaders, leadership, leader emergence, leadership development, coeducation, retrospective IPA, Philippines