Latest research
Staying ahead of the game
The Executive Coaching Consultancy is the first consultancy to facilitate important new academic research into the effectiveness of Maternity Coaching. By allowing access to their clients, they made possible the first academic research into this new field. This underlines the consultancy’s commitment to evidence-based practice and also their willingness to work with external researchers in order to contribute to coaching practice and research into a significant growth area of coaching. The two recent and separate academic research projects, both facilitated by ECC, looked at the experience of women returning to work and the impact of Maternity Coaching on the retention of women. Researchers interviewed individuals about their experience of returning to work and the impact that coaching had.
Some of the questions that the research asked and answered were:
- A woman's experience of returning to work is very variable: what key factors does it depend on?
- On return to work, the research found that women had a renewed focus, but on what? How is Maternity Coaching strategically placed to support this?
- The research showed that women can decide to exit their careers for complex sets of reasons, not the simple internal or external reasons that many employers assume. What are the implications for maternity coaching?
- When are the key "danger periods" or exit points for women? How can coaching incorporate them into the coaching programme?
- Do women follow the typically male model of linear career development? Do women move posts for the same reasons as men? What influences their decisions? What role do both 'push' (work-related) and 'pull' (external) factors play?
- Typically women have three phases of career development: what are they and how does Maternity Coaching support this?
- How can organisations adapt to the three phases and a shifting emphasis?
For more information about the research and how it would affect your business contact either emma@maternity-coaching.co.uk or joy@maternity-coaching.co.uk
Published research:
Bussell, J. (2008) Great Expectations: Can Maternity Coaching affect the Retention of Professional Women? International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, Special Issue No. 2, Autumn 2008.
http://www.business.brookes.ac.uk/research/areas/coaching&mentoring
Available from October 2008