Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Coaching in the Collective: How Group Coaching Affects the Progress and Well-being of PhD Students

Varley, Amanda
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1181-8484
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1607688379342405

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.
PhD students face a number of challenges that undermine their ability to make progress on their degrees and jeopardize their health. Increasing numbers of studies have explored the factors contributing to doctoral student ill-being, while few studies have explored what enables doctoral student well-being and have rigorously tested interventions that could improve the experience of doctoral education. This study uses a mixed methods quasi-experimental design to test the effects of a group coaching intervention on the key PhD student outcomes of progress and well-being. Participants in an experimental group coaching condition or control condition completed surveys as well as semi-structured interviews at two time points, and participants in the experimental condition also participated in focus groups with their coaching cohorts. Quantitative results from the study suggest that group coaching is an effective intervention for lowering PhD student stress as well as increasing self-rated progress, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and hope. Qualitative results are presented in three parts: (1) a meta-level understanding of the experience of doctoral education; (2) challenges and enablers of PhD student progress and well-being; and (3) exploration of the benefits of group coaching. Key findings suggest that a group coaching model is particularly beneficial to students who struggle with the lack of structure in the later stages of graduate school, who lack academic social support, or who lack access to the hidden curriculum of graduate school. Group coaching appears to be effective because it presents an opportunity for students to gain greater levels of self-awareness, learn from the experiences of other doctoral students, and experiment with new behaviors that may increase their progress and well-being. By exploring PhD students as a particular category of academic worker through the use of well-established theories of coping with stress in the workplace, this study provides additional insights into how doctoral students can have better experiences during their PhD journey. Practical and theoretical implications are explored.
Ronald Fry (Committee Chair)
John Paul Stephens (Committee Member)
Ellen Van Oosten (Committee Member)
Eileen Anderson-Fye (Committee Member)
256 p.
Behavioral Psychology; Higher Education; Organizational Behavior
Coaching, doctoral students, graduate students, group coaching, PhD students, progress, well-being, wellbeing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Varley, A. (2021). Coaching in the Collective: How Group Coaching Affects the Progress and Well-being of PhD Students [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1607688379342405

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Varley, Amanda. Coaching in the Collective: How Group Coaching Affects the Progress and Well-being of PhD Students . 2021. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1607688379342405.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Varley, Amanda. "Coaching in the Collective: How Group Coaching Affects the Progress and Well-being of PhD Students ." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1607688379342405

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1607688379342405
2,200
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.