Becoming a Profession? - Executive Coaching in Australia
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Since the 1980s, executive coaching has become one of the fastest growing sectors in business services. Yet, there is no clear data that identifies the number of individuals claiming to act as executive coaches either nationally or internationally. It has been estimated by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2007) that there are 30,000 coaches worldwide generating an income of $1.5 billion. Given the economic value and growth of such a service, it has attracted many people wishing to position themselves as executive coaches and as experts in the field. It is this growth in executive coaches, and coaching in general, that has seen the leaders in this field follow a traditional occupational development model of creating occupational associations and now extending this to claim professional status. Despite the claims of the coaching professional associations that executive coaching is a profession, executive coaching remains a fragmented and unregulated occupation, requiring no formal qualifications or experience to practice, or use the term “coach”. This thesis examines executive coaching from the different aspects of executive coaches, professional associations, educators and trainers and clients. I have used Greenwood, Suddaby and Hinings (2002) to examine the stages in institutional change. By using their framework I examine the stages that an occupation attempts to achieve change, or emerge. The thesis suggests the professionalization project is not only a process, but also a strategy used by professional associations as they display a professional image to a variety of audiences. In this thesis I have examined the role of the professional associations, educators and trainers, executive coaches and clients in the attempts to make executive coaching a profession. I argue that theories of professionalization need to account for these changes in circumstance. The view I have taken has added to this by examining the role of professional organisations as it is emerging.
Author: Elly Meredith
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3146209509