OBCAMS

Oxford Brookes University Coaching and Mentoring Society

iccams@brookes.ac.uk

The aim of the Oxford Brookes University Coaching and Mentoring Society (OBCAMS) is to bring together researchers and practitioners of coaching and mentoring in order to explore evidence based practice and areas of interest to the field.

OBCAMS provides collaboration and networking opportunities for academics and professionals from a wide spectrum of coaching and mentoring interest. We introduce a range of coaching and mentoring topics in an informal setting and stimulate lively discussions and debates online. 

The society has approximately 150 members, comprising academics, students and practitioners from across the region.

People sitting at a large conference room

Society meetings

The society meets monthly on Thursday evenings, between 5.00pm and 6.30pm unless otherwise stated on the programme. Please, note that the recordings will not be available in order to encourage open discussions.

How to become a member?

Membership of the Society is available free-of-charge to anyone interested in their own professional development as a coach or mentor (practitioners, students, academics, etc).

The Society sends out mailings to its members to advise them of forthcoming events, usually by email. New members are always welcome.

Let us know by email if you would like to hear more about OBCAMS events.

Express interest in OBCAMS

Upcoming sessions

'Challenging Conversations: Is the invasion of AI in coaching a reason to celebrate, a reality to accept or a disaster to resist?' Professor Tatiana Bachkirova in conversation with Dr Joanna Molyn

6 February 2025, 5.00-6.30pm

This is the second session of the Challenging Conversations Series in which Tatiana Bachkirova invites a colleague from Oxford Brookes or further afield to discuss with her some contentious topics in the coaching world. Other participants have an opportunity to engage with both conversationalists to delve deeper into the issue in question.

For this session, Tatiana invites Joanna Molyn to have a robust conversation addressing the multiple perspectives generated by the topic of the use of AI in coaching.

Questions we might explore together with participants:

  • What are the problems in considering ‘AI coaching’ as a replacement for human coaching?
  • Does the name ‘AI coaching’ matter?
  • Is ‘augmentation of human coaching by AI’ worth the fuss? What do we lose and what do we gain?
  • What is a responsible stance for any organisational coach towards the so-called ‘AI revolution’ and what are the implications?

Background reading if you wish:

  • Bachkirova, T. (2024). Why coaching needs real intelligence, not artificial intelligence. Philosophy of Coaching: An International Journal, 9(2), 6-15. 2. Why Coaching Needs Real Intelligence, Not Artificial Intelligence, http://dx.doi.org/10.22316/poc/09.2.02
  • Bachkirova, T. & Kemp, R. (2024). ‘AI coaching’: democratizing coaching service or offering an ersatz? Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2024.2368598

Tatiana Bachkirova is Professor of Coaching Psychology in the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies at Oxford Brookes University. As an academic her works involves supervising doctoral students, teaching coaching supervisors an academic writing. As a practitioner she supports coaches through individual and group supervision. In her over 70 research articles, book chapters and books and in her many speaking engagements she aims to explore most challenging issues of coaching as a service to individuals, organisations and wider societies.

Joanna Molyn is a Senior Lecturer in Coaching and Mentoring at the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies at the Oxford Brookes university. She regularly mentors and supervises doctoral and MA students. In 2017 she received a research grant from the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School to investigate the effectiveness of coaching in Higher Education. She conducted the RCT study that measured the impact of coaching on wellbeing, resilience, goal attainment and stress.; followed by the RCT study into the impact of Artificial Intelligence coaching on students. She is a certified coach and facilitator currently completing her training as a coach supervisor with Professor Tatiana Bachkirova and Dr Peter Jackson at the International Centre of Coaching and Mentoring Studies at Oxford Brookes.

Past sessions