Oxford Brookes University hosts 20th Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference

Professional coaches and mentors from across the globe travelled to Oxford Brookes University for the 20th anniversary of the Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference.

The event featured a range of industry practitioners and academics, including MA and Doctoral Coaching and Mentoring students of the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies, sharing new research papers.

The International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies supports diversity and innovation in research and actively develops relationships with organisations in both public and private sectors to explore research and its application in coaching and mentoring.

Professor Tim Vorley, Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and Dean of Oxford Brookes Business School opened the conference. He was followed by a keynote speech titled ‘Perturbations in the coaching world and how research can help’ delivered by Professor of Coaching Psychology, Tatiana Bachkirova from Oxford Brookes University.

The programme featured some fascinating papers on topics including; ‘A study into the experience of coaching for women with a later life diagnosis of ADHD’, ‘Youth mentoring: The mentee’s perspective’ and ‘What is the experience of coaching for Black Headteachers working in UK schools?’.

Attendees had an opportunity to network with and hear from presenters from University of Portsmouth, The Open University, Henley Business School, Newcastle University, Allameh Tabataba’i University, a guest talk from Dr Angella Passarelli, Director of Research at the Institute of Coaching, McLean/Harvard Medical School and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, in Bucharest, Romania. 

Professor Tim Vorley said: "It's always a pleasure to welcome our academic staff, students and alumni, along with colleagues from universities around the world to this annual event. To hear about the new research being undertaken in the coaching and mentoring space and see colleagues building new professional connections is what makes Oxford Brookes Business School such a special place."

Dr Peter Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Adult, Professional and Lifelong Learning commented: “As Tatiana argued in her keynote, research is so important to the development of the discipline of Coaching & Mentoring.  We pride ourselves on the quality of the research produced by our students while the conference also creates the opportunity to welcome researchers from other institutions to share their work.  Student research is highly responsive to current social and economic issues; not only does the programme reflect this, but the work also carries these important issues forward."

Dr Ioanna Iordanou, Reader in Human Resource Management added: “The annual Oxford Brookes Coaching and Mentoring Research conference is a celebration of empirical research in these constantly developing disciplines. It was fascinating to see such a great variety of research topics, explored and discussed with great curiosity and creativity. Here at the International Centre of Coaching and Mentoring Studies, we take pride in the research our students produce and are always keen to welcome research-practitioners from other institutions to share their own research findings with our wider coaching and mentoring community.”