Higher education institutions can provide a unique environment for helping college students identify their talents and develop their values toward the goal of being competent, conscience-driven individuals who contribute to the common good. Despite skeptics questioning the value of a college education by focusing on an ongoing litany of concerns and criticisms related to cost, quality, and access, the undergraduate college experience affords opportunities for emerging adults to contemplate big questions of life purpose with the goal of producing an engaged citizenry committed to serving others. Previous research among undergraduate students identified the accrual of numerous short- and long-term benefits to students who perceived a sense of calling in their lives, although the pathways involved in the discernment process differed somewhat between men and women. Given the recognized importance of intersectionality in shaping individuals' life experiences, targeted and nuanced examination of the influences that inform the development of a sense of calling is needed. In response, this study addressed the discernment process of individuals in an understudied sector of the college-going population--undergraduate women who were raised and educated in Appalachia. Given the systemic challenges in the region (e.g., low college degree completion rates, low socioeconomic status) and stereotypic generalizations about its residents, this study sought to gain a nuanced understanding in response to the following research question: What are the influences that facilitate the development of a sense of calling among undergraduate women raised and educated in Appalachia? Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to the research, data were collected through one in-person semistructured interview and one follow-up interview through Zoom with 13 women who were senior-level students at three private higher education institutions in Appalachia. These host institutions were selected based on their participation in Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, an association aimed at supporting calling exploration among undergraduate students. Purposeful sampling was employed by institutional gatekeepers to identify undergraduate women in their senior year who could articulate having a personal sense of calling in their lives. Five themes emerged in the analysis of data regarding the process of calling discernment in the context of Appalachian culture: (a) supportive, yet complex, family relationships; (b) the mediating role of religion and/or spirituality; (c) college as a community for clarification of calling; (d) formative individuals and experiences before college; and (e) the influence of the Appalachian context on the discernment of a sense of calling. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented in the concluding chapter. Understanding these influences, particularly in relation to being raised in a distinctive context (e.g., geographic, socioeconomic) such as Appalachia, may be instructive for higher education leaders and educators committed to enhancing the transformative power of a college education with recognition of cultural influences on the process of discerning a life calling. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]