Coaching: the powerful tool that all universities should be adopting this year
The start of a new year is always the perfect time for reflection, and as we look back on a successful 2023 and an exciting 2024 ahead, we wanted to share our learnings on the power of coaching for university students and why universities should consider the intervention for their students this year.
Anyone who has worked with a coach in a personal or professional setting will likely know first hand the impact an excellent one can have on your performance, self awareness, confidence and wellbeing. For many it makes the difference between making the right career choice or the wrong one, gaining a promotion or new job or lacking development or progression. For others, it provides the tool kit to keep moving forward when faced with a multitude of unimaginable challenges.
The Bridging Project’s founder, Phoebe, was a teacher when she first experienced coaching. She gained a place on a training course which included working with a coach over the course of a year. Her coach supported her with skills and strategies to manage the aftermath of the impact of the Grenfell Tower fire which had directly impacted the students and teachers that worked at the school, which was based at the bottom of the tower.
Inspired by the tool kit she had been given, she began to use coaching tools and skills with students in the sixth form that she supported. When learning that one of these students gained a place at the University of Oxford, only to drop out in their first year, Phoebe became very interested in the place coaching could have in the higher education sector. Excited by how professional coaching could be used more widely and what would happen if the coaches previously kept for executive CEOs were connected with students during their time at university, The Bridging Project was set up.
The Bridging Project provides students from underrepresented backgrounds with a programme of support, led by a team of experienced and diverse coaches. Coaches work with students from their final term in school and throughout their first year at university, with the aim of improving confidence, soft skills, engagement in university life and sense of belonging. Similarly to any coaching relationship, coaches take a student-centred approach to the work, focussing on students’ individual needs, setting goals and taking monthly actions to support students in the transition of university life and beyond.
Our work over the last four years has demonstrated the power of bringing coaching into higher education, particularly for those who most need it. In a pilot programme at UCL last year supporting care leavers, 100% stated the programme helped them develop key skills and 88% stated the programme developed their confidence and ability to access services from within the university.
““Honestly, these coaching sessions have changed my life, it has made me more confident and helped me overcome my fears. People around me have also recognised the difference it has made to my overall outlook to certain situations and I really appreciate the impact that my coach has had on my life.” ”
We know that individuals are the best advocates for themselves and are also best placed to define and develop their own pathways to success. Using a coaching approach allows us to stay true to this - by using our asset-based coaching model, we support students to identify the strengths they already have and use these as the foundation for their personal growth.
This is in place of more typical mentoring relationships which risk creating situations of dependency and power imbalance. Our coaches are trained to work non-judgmentally and go through a thorough recruitment process which prioritises those with experience of coaching young adults, those whose lived experience matches the students they support and who are trained in coaching and positive psychology.
89% of our coaches are masters level qualified or certified and 46% were first generation to university themselves.
All coaches on our programme are passionate about using a coaching approach to support under represented university students.
““Coaching on this programme helps with students’ confidence and wellbeing, leading to a more positive university experience and transition from sixth form to university. It also helps for universities to spot any issues and offer support earlier on for a student before they hit more of a crisis point.””
Coaches help students identify their existing skills and how to employ them, with our primary goal for young people from underrepresented backgrounds to feel in control of their university journey and empowered and confident to take the steps they need to create a positive future for themselves, in whichever direction they choose.
If you are interested in finding out more about how coaching and The Bridging Project can support students at your university, get in touch by emailing Info@thebridgingproject.co.uk or find out more here.
