Understanding the Lived Experiences of Academic Advisors Utilizing Coaching Skills and Techniques

Authors

Jennifer C. Halpern, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Higher Education

First Advisor's Name

Douglas Robertson

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Rebekah Schulze

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

James Burns

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Thomas Reio

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

coaching, academic advisors, challenges

Date of Defense

6-7-2022

Abstract

Students who need help and support often find themselves not getting the help they need or not knowing who to go to. Advisors at FlU have been trained to use college life coaching skills and techniques to help students who are going through a difficult time. The problem is that although most of the advising community has attended these trainings it seems that not every advisor may be utilizing the coaching skills and techniques with their students for a variety of reasons, and it is because of those different reasons that may be leading to missed opportunities for advisors to properly address an issue with their student and be able to help that student to come up with a possible solution.

This study aimed to better understand the experiences of academic advisors who have utilized the coaching skills and techniques within their academic advising sessions. This study was conducted using the qualitative methods approach in which the volunteer participants completed a one-hour, semi-structured interview. The recorded interviews were transcribed and coded to identify themes throughout the responses. A total of 25 themes were identified and put into five categories (a) benefits, (b) challenges, (c) skills and techniques, (d) advisor characteristics and (e) training opportunities.

The experiences of these participants show the ways in which utilizing coaching skills and techniques can prove to be an effective tool in terms of helping students and provide them with support. However, the experiences also demonstrate the kinds of scenarios that make using these skills and techniques difficult for the advisors. Finally, the experiences show that it takes a certain kind of person to be able to take on this role.

Identifier

FIDC010718

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9927-3740

Recommended Citation

Halpern, Jennifer C., "Understanding the Lived Experiences of Academic Advisors Utilizing Coaching Skills and Techniques" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5080.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5080