One-to-one coaching as a catalyst for personal development: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of coaching undergraduates at a UK university

Objectives: This paper examines the experience of nine undergraduates who had six coaching sessions over an academic year. It is part of a wider study which explores how young people experience and understand personal growth in the context of university life. Design: A qualitative, longitudinal design was employed and semi-structured interviews were used. The transcribed interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), an experiential approach which focuses on how individuals make sense of a particular experience in a specific context. Methods: A volunteer sample of nine students, across various Arts and Social Science subjects, was recruited in a Russell Group university and each student received six one-to-one professional coaching sessions in person and/or by Skype. Findings: The students felt that the coaching sessions sped up the growth that would have happened eventually and thus they could put into practice what they had learned much earlier than they would have otherwise been able. Coaching benefited the students in four broad ways: it gave them an increased sense of control over their work and other areas, it helped them achieve greater balance and focus, it increased their confidence and enabled them to take new perspectives on various issues. Conclusions: Coaching helped the undergraduates address common concerns such as time management, stress, social relationships and confidence. Universities could enhance the student experience if they helped students address these concerns, perhaps by training personal tutors to take a coaching approach or by giving students access to professional coaches as a widening or pre-emptive component of their psychological services provision