Influences of an applied group dynamic experience upon the personal and professional lives of selected participants

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the effect of an Applied Group Dynamic experience on the personal and professional lives of selected graduate students. A questionnaire addressing biographical background, the experience itself, and questions about leadership and course design was designed, pre-tested, and then utilized. One hundred persons were surveyed, 52 (16 men and 36 women) responded. Responses were examined within the context of four variable categories, age, gender, minority status, and quality of experience. The average age for both men and women in the sample is forty-one and the age range is from 28 to 57. There are 12 minority respondents (all women) of which 9 are Afro-American. Chi-square tests were conducted to determine the level of significance of apparent differences among groups. The responses to the various survey questions were, overall, positive, even from those who found the experience stressful. Almost all the learnings and skills acquired are reported as useful five years later. More than two thirds of the respondents gained confrontational skills, learned about power and control, and self-disclosure, became more self-aware, and felt that their perspective had been enlarged. Two-thirds have used their learnings in both personal and professional/work life. More than half of the respondents had learnings about race and learned new communication skills. The minority group, all women, differed significantly from the non-minority women rating the experience higher in reflection than the non-minority women, and reported significantly greater learnings about social issues, especially race, gender issues, and woman\u27s issues. A significantly higher percentage acquired communication skills and learnings about power and control and experienced greater spiritual growth. A significant percentage of both the older respondents and the neutral/negative group were critical of leadership. (The neutral/negative group wanted more support.) A higher percentage of men than women reported positive experiences and experienced more learnings in every area surveyed. Those who had a very good experience in every area reported significantly greater learnings than those who had a neutral or negative experience. These results suggest that a positive group experience is important for acquired learning and learning transfer over time