A study of student leadership experiences at three women's colleges is described, and its implications for leadership in coeducational settings are examined. A brief review of research on women and leadership in college looks at women students' under representation in leadership roles, some reasons for this situation, female students' self esteem, and the institutional climate for women. The present study investigated how women students in single-sex colleges lead, how they learn to lead, how they described their leadership experiences, environmental factors, and how conditions supporting women's leadership can be fostered in coeducational colleges and universities. The three colleges studied were Wellesley College (Massachusetts), Randolph-Macon Woman's College (Virginia), and Westhampton College (Virginia). Data were gathered in individual and group interviews with students, faculty, administrators, and alumnae, through observation on campus, and document analysis. Results suggest that despite the potential benefits of programs, organizations, and activities for women's leadership development, a number of obstacles exist, including: growing separatism and fragmentation in university communities; questions about balancing women's needs for separate development with needs for group participation; diminishing resources; and lack of commitment. (Contains 78 references.) (MSE)