Project Summary
Project leader/s: Dr. Meriem El Karoui
The objective of this project is to develop an innovative way of sharing knowledge to set up a successful career coaching programme in an academic department. The School of Biological Sciences (SBS), University of Edinburgh, has been running a programme offering individual coaching sessions since 2015. There is a majority of female applicants, suggesting that this scheme is addressing a specific need. The impact of the programme goes beyond supporting individual coachees; the coaches give feedback to the SBS management team on key themes that arise through the coaching, giving insight to School-wide issues that may need to be addressed.
We will produce a short video explaining in a simple and easy-to-share way the implementation of such a scheme. The script of the video will take the form of a recipe with ingredients (“use coaches who know academia well”), methods (“carefully set-up the application process to identify who would benefit most from coaching whilst maintaining confidentiality”) and cook’s tips (“collect information before and after to evaluate effectiveness”).
The project will showcase the effectiveness of career coaching for an individual’s continuing professional development and for the development of cultural change within departments, focusing on inclusivity.
Research theme/s: Changing culture and organisational practice in support of women’s careers, Positive cultural and behavioural change
