Academic output linked to a student s support system

NEW research shows that even struggling students can reach their academic goals more easily with better integrated and targeted support.

The high dropout rate among black students has been a concern in education circles for many years – but a novel approach by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in conjunction with the Centre for Coaching at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business has come up with a practical solution – life coaching.

Their research shows that students who are academically bright can still struggle in their studies not because of inability – but because of lack of emotional and psychological support.

The UJ research targeted finalyear chartered accounting bursary students and set out to find out whether an innovative life coaching project could help improve academic output.

They invited third-year CA students, who were all Thuthuka bursary holders, to take part in the project on a voluntary basis.

“We believe that by teaching students the ability to self-correct and self-regulate within each of their unique life contexts, a wellrounded student can emerge,” said Erica Du Toit, senior lecturer in the department of accountancy in UJ’s faculty of economic and financial sciences. “So we wanted to test this belief.”

Results speak for themselves. Of the 27 students who got life coaching, 78% were admitted to the prestigious CA honours programme.

Only 62% of the students who chose not to get coaching qualified. The combined rate of students admitted into the honours class in 2012 was 72%, a 30% improvement on last year.

Each student went through a personalised coaching programme over three months.

They all had strong academic potential but came from rural, under-performing schools. Research has shown a link between poverty and low academic achievements. – Rothko