Academic Coaching Functions in Universities: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Academic coaching is an emerging intervention designed to support students in higher education. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for the functions of academic coaching in universities. Utilising a qualitative meta-synthesis method, seven databases were systematically searched for literature published between 2003 and 2023. From 1,911 initial studies, 30 were selected after screening. The synthesis identified 35 sub-themes grouped into seven main themes: psychological empowerment, educational content, skills development, holistic support, self-empowerment, strategic empowerment and career readiness. These findings indicate that academic coaching affects students’ academic, personal and professional performance, highlighting its value as a developmental intervention.

Introduction

University life constitutes a complex formative stage, characterised by significant changes in students’ academic, personal and social environments. Beyond acquiring knowledge, students must develop responsibility, independence, discipline and adaptability to educational dynamics (Ruiz-Camacho & Gozalo, 2025). In response, higher education institutions have expanded a range of student support services, including academic advising, mentoring and counselling, to enhance student success and retention (Rodríguez Fuentes, Navarro Rincón, Carrillo López & Isla Navarro, 2023; Zarazua, 2019). However, the growing complexity of student needs has led institutions to explore more personalised and developmental approaches to support.

One such approach is academic coaching, which has emerged in recent years as a complementary form of student support aimed at enhancing student progress (Combs, 2015; Martin, 2024). Rooted in positive psychology, it emphasises goal attainment, personal development, self-reflection and performance maximisation (Grant, 2003). It aligns with self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and self-regulated learning theory (Zimmerman, 2002), both highlighting the importance of fostering students’ autonomy, agency and self-reflection. Unlike advising or mentoring, which typically provide directive guidance or the transfer of expertise, academic coaching supports students in generating their own strategies while the coach facilitates reflection and planning (Clutterbuck, 2022; Robinson, 2015). The constructs that underlie advising and mentoring contrast distinctly with academic coaching, which is learner-driven (Deiorio, Carney, Kahl, Bonura & Juve, 2016); in which academic coaches play a crucial role in supporting learners to identify the multiple domains that contribute to and impact their learning (King, Carnicer Hijazo, Anas & Low-Beer, 2025).

Despite its increasing adoption across higher education contexts (Black, 2023), academic coaching remains conceptually underdefined. In particular, the boundaries between academic coaching and related practices such as advising and mentoring are not consistently articulated, resulting in ambiguity regarding its role, processes and intended outcomes (Griffiths, 2015). At the same time, academic coaching is implemented in diverse formats, ranging from individual sessions to group-based and technology-mediated interventions (Campbell & Mogashana, 2025). This diversity, while valuable in practice, has contributed to a fragmented understanding of what academic coaching does and how it functions across contexts.

Existing research has predominantly examined specific interventions, outcomes or institutional applications of academic coaching, with limited attention to synthesising these findings into an integrative and theoretically grounded understanding of its core functions. As a result, the literature lacks a coherent framework that systematically organises the functions of academic coaching and explains how its diverse outcomes are connected through underlying processes. This gap limits both theoretical development and the effective design and implementation of coaching practices in higher education.

Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework of academic coaching functions in universities. By synthesising the existing literature and identifying key functional dimensions, the study seeks to provide greater conceptual clarity regarding the role and operation of academic coaching, while also offering a structured foundation for future research and practice. The remainder of the paper reviews the relevant literature, outlines the methodology, presents the findings, introduces the proposed framework and concludes with implications and directions for future research.

Literature Review

A growing body of research has examined academic coaching in higher education, often focusing on specific student outcomes such as academic performance, self-regulation, goal setting and retention. Empirical studies consistently report positive effects. For instance, Burtson et al. (2025) found that participation in academic coaching sessions significantly improved students’ academic performance, particularly when multiple sessions and sustained interactions were involved. Similarly, Alzen et al. (2021) and Capstick, Harrell-Williams, Cockrum and West (2019) observed improvements in grade point average (GPA), retention rates and credit completion, especially among academically at-risk students. Qualitative research has also highlighted benefits in students’ self-awareness, motivation and strategic engagement with learning (Martin, 2024; Zarazua, 2019). Moreover, Saethern, Glømmen, Lugo and Ellingsen (2022) reported that academic coaching positively influenced students’ ability to identify the necessary and efficient cognitive and metacognitive skills needed to cope with everyday scholastic challenges.

While these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of academic coaching, they also reveal a key limitation: the literature largely examines isolated outcomes rather than offering an integrated understanding of academic coaching functions. Most studies conceptualise academic coaching in relation to specific goals—such as performance improvement or retention—without systematically addressing how these outcomes are connected through underlying processes or functional roles. As a result, the relationship between different outcomes remains theoretically underdeveloped.

This limitation reflects a broader pattern within the coaching literature, which has evolved through diverse and, at times, theoretically fragmented approaches. Scholars have noted that the field lacks conceptual integration, with multiple perspectives coexisting without a unifying framework (Cox, Clutterbuck & Bachkirova, 2023; Grant, 2017). Furthermore, conceptual ambiguity persists regarding the definition and scope of academic coaching. Although it is frequently associated with theoretical perspectives such as positive psychology, self-determination theory and self-regulated learning, there is no universally accepted definition that clearly delineates its boundaries and essential components (Robinson, 2015). This lack of definitional clarity further complicates efforts to compare findings across studies and to develop cumulative knowledge.

Importantly, there is limited engagement with theoretical and integrative frameworks capable of organising the diverse functions of academic coaching. Existing studies tend to remain descriptive or outcome-focused, rather than proposing structured models that explain how coaching processes operate across multiple domains of student development. This gap has been identified as a key limitation in the wider coaching literature, with calls for more systematic and theory-driven model development (Cox et al., 2023; Grant, 2017).

Taken together, these limitations point to a significant gap in the literature. While the effectiveness of academic coaching is well established, there is a lack of a unified, theoretically grounded framework that captures its core functions. Developing such a framework is essential for advancing both research and practice, enabling a more coherent understanding of coaching and guiding effective implementation in higher education. The present study seeks to contribute to this aim by synthesising existing evidence and identifying the key functional dimensions of academic coaching. The following section outlines the study's methodology.

Methodology

Given the fragmented and outcome-oriented nature of the academic coaching literature, a qualitative meta-synthesis was adopted an appropriate methodological approach. This method enables the integration and reinterpretation of findings from multiple qualitative studies to generate higher-order conceptual insights and develop theoretical frameworks. It is particularly suited to identifying and organising underlying functions across diverse studies rather than merely aggregating outcomes. Accordingly, this study employed the Sandelowski and Barroso (2006) approach, which involves seven steps: identification of the research question, systematic study of the literature, selection of appropriate studies, extraction of information from the studies, analysis and synthesis of the findings, quality control and presentation of the findings.

Search Strategy

The search began with the research question: ‘What are the functions of academic coaching in universities?’ Seven databases – Web of Science, Springer, Emerald, Wiley, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis and ProQuest – were selected for their coverage of higher education, educational psychology and learning studies. Given that coaching in higher education spans multiple fields and this study focuses solely on the functions of academic coaching, the search was optimised by using the specific keyword ‘academic coaching’. To ensure comprehensive coverage, the time frame was set from 2003 to 2023, capturing the development and evolution of academic coaching in higher education.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Studies were included if they were (a) journal articles, master's thesis, or doctoral dissertations published between 2003 and 2023, (b) published in English, (c) utilising a qualitative or mixed method and (d) focusing specifically on academic coaching in higher education. Studies were excluded if they were abstracts, conference proceedings, reviews, book chapters, purely quantitative, outside the defined time frame or not in English.

Study Selection

The initial search identified 1,911 records. After removing duplicates, titles and abstracts were screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. To operationalise the criteria, studies were retained only if the abstract contained an explicit reference to academic coaching within a higher education context. During this stage, one author conducted the primary screening using EndNote, while a second reviewer independently assessed a subset of the records to ensure consistency. Discrepancies were discussed and resolved through consensus. Following the initial screening, 43 studies were selected for full-text review. At this stage, studies were excluded if they did not adequately address the research question or lacked relevant qualitative data on academic coaching functions. Borderline cases were discussed among the research team until agreement was reached. Common reasons for exclusion included insufficient focus on academic coaching, absence of relevant findings or misalignment with the study's scope. The quality of the final studies was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP), with details in the quality control section. Finally, 30 studies met all eligibility criteria and were included in the synthesis. The selection process was validated through team discussions to ensure rigour and consistency. A flow diagram of the study selection process is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Flow diagram of study selection.

Data Extraction

Data were extracted from the results and discussion sections of the selected studies. Using an inductive approach, codes relevant to the main research question were identified. The inductive approach is a systematic procedure for analyzing qualitative data where the analysis is guided by specific objectives (Thomas, 2003). At this stage, open coding revealed numerous codes related to the academic coaching functions in universities, and MAXQDA software was used for data coding.

Data Analysis

For each study, the first author (DD) conducted data extraction, coding and analysis, while another team member (RA) independently coded parts of the data for validation. Initial codes were reviewed to identify similarities and differences. Two authors then refined the codes into initial themes through repeated readings to identify central organising principles. Conceptual overlap among some codes posed a challenge, which was addressed through multiple team review sessions, iteratively refining the thematic structure. The final meta-synthesis of themes was agreed upon by all authors, enhancing the trustworthiness of the analysis. Thematic saturation was considered achieved when no new codes or themes emerged from the analysis of additional studies, and when existing categories were sufficiently developed in terms of depth and variation. This was assessed through iterative coding and constant comparison across studies, ensuring that the final thematic structure adequately captured the range of academic coaching functions represented in the data.

Quality Control

Critical appraisal is an essential component of systematic reviews of qualitative studies, as it prevents the inclusion of poorly conducted studies or preliminary studies (Atkins et al., 2008). This study used the CASP method to evaluate the quality of the selected sources. This method involves answering 10 questions related to research objectives, methodology, study design, recruitment strategy, data collection strategies, reflectivity (consideration of researcher and participants relationship), ethical considerations, data analysis accuracy, a clear statement of findings and the value of the research. Each criterion is evaluated with ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘cannot say’. The assessment revealed that all selected sources were of high quality (see Appendix 1). Furthermore, content analysis showed that the repetition of codes and components extracted from various sources indicated the importance and validity of the extracted components from the researchers’ point of view.

Results and Discussion

The selected studies included 13 research articles, 16 doctoral dissertations and one master's thesis. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA 2020, and inductive coding generated 651 initial open codes. These codes were further categorised into 35 sub-themes, which were organised under seven main themes, representing the functions of academic coaching. Table 1 presents the sub-themes, their frequencies and illustrative examples of open codes.

Table 1.

Sub-Themes, Frequency and Examples of Open Codes.

Sub-Themes	Frequency	Examples of Open Codes
Self-confidence and self-esteem	43	‘As a first-year student who was timid and lacking the confidence to speak up in the classroom, Glenn talked with his coach over the course of multiple sessions about ways to effectively engage in course lectures’ (Barton, 2023, p. 69).
Motivating students	31	‘It's motivated me to go to class and try to learn the most that I can So, not just going to the class to pass the class but going to the class to get knowledge that's going to help me further down the line’ (Barton, 2023, p. 87).
Academic mindset and behaviour	28	‘Paige similarly expressed how her beliefs about herself as a college student had changed after participating in a semester of coaching’ (Barton, 2023, p. 98).
Stress management	27	‘I think being able to take a very high-stress situation and kind of break it down and absorb it and actively listen’ ( Wolff et al., 2020 , p. 3).
Flexibility and resilience	7	‘Both of them reflected on their coach's efforts to provide encouragement and supportive guidance as reasons for their ability to “move forward”, “become more resilient,” and recommit to their goals’ (Barton, 2023, p. 91).
University compatibility	38	‘I was very confused and very scared of being in a major [institution] a really big university in the United States. I was very afraid of that, and [my academic coach] kind of calmed me down and explained to me how the educational system worked’ ( Vadell, Gould, Ghosh & Stanford, 2016 , p. 65).
Educational outcome	34	‘I was not successful last time I took this course, this time I am not only successful, but I also received a good grade. That was due to the coaching that I received’ (Kelikian, 2020, p. 61).
Study skills	27	‘Participants cited the introduction to new study strategies and the support to understand and incorporate them into their study routine as being the third most impactful aspect of the coaching intervention’ (Kelikian, 2020, p. 63).
Increasing retention	21	‘I can honestly tell you that I feel confident about pursuing a higher degree as a result of my interaction with the academic coach. She has empowered me and set me on a path to be successful’ (Zarazua, 2019, p. 46).
Enhancing performance	14	‘Help me to sort of focus on where I could take these roles in practice and how to expand on them’ ( Tee, Jowett & Bechelet-Carter, 2009 , p. 380).
Time management	50	‘I am literally planning every hour of my day. That was usually helpful, in that I can visually see how many hours in this week I have, and how many hours do I need to use to do things’ (Combs, 2015, p. 90).
Individual skills	16	‘I have grown as an individual in that I feel like if something were to happen that me and my academic coach could not meet one day, I would know what to do and how to go about without worrying that I could fail’ (Combs, 2015, p. 103).
Organisational skills	12	‘Two emphasized feeling fueled because the coach cheered or helped to increase organization skills’ (Lewis, 2023, p. 140).
Communication skills	10	‘I was already starting to realize how important this is going to be for interactions with professors, friends, family, even coworkers and bosses in the future’ (Sommers, 2015, p. 107).
Listening skill	5	‘I really gained a nice perspective on how to listen, not necessarily to judge what they’re saying, but maybe how their feeling on certain topics’ (Sommers, 2015, p. 127).
Questioning skill	5	‘If we don’t feel comfortable asking the instructor for questions, we can tell our coach. And, it helps us develop those skills to ask them questions; and it makes us feel like we’re more open with people and have a better communication asking questions’ ( Perez, 2014 , p. 100).
Supporting academic activities	40	‘Students realized the importance of academic support through repeated use of services after the experience with the academic coaches’ modeled behaviors’ (Lewis, 2023, p. 158).
Supporting non-academic activities	28	‘Coaching benefits students by allowing for time allocation to activities which enhance personal wellness, foster social relationships and support engagement in non-academic experiences in medical school’ (Boyd, Besche, Goldhammer, Alblooshi, & Coleman, 2022, p. 8).
Emotional support	18	‘Students expressed a deep need for emotional support from their coaches, and academic coaches stated that students needed emotional support while coaching’ (Lewis, 2023, p. 159).
Well-being support	12	‘Marnie discussed an activity within her group in which group members helped each other define important elements to their personal wellbeing’ (Sommers, 2015, p. 118).
Self-reflection	24	‘Jade explained how she empowered students to make their own decisions, helped them to be resourceful, reflect’ (Sepulveda & Birnbaum, 2022, p. 127).
Self-efficacy	22	‘Supporting the development of self-efficacy, DPT students discuss receiving verbal persuasion from both their coach and peers that helped them to feel supported and capable of succeeding in the program’ (Black, 2023, p. 132).
Self-care	15	‘Mary further described the focus on self-care as something [that she promotes] very intentionally because self-care is a matter of sustainability’ (Blankenship, 2017, p. 116).
Self-awareness	13	‘Because I now know that I am capable to do a lot of different things. And I know that if I apply myself, I can actually achieve a lot’ (Barton, 2023, p. 98).
Self-regulation	12	‘It's the independence thing again, I want to find out for myself, I can do it myself – but now I ask, I bother, I annoy them and discuss with the lecturers’ ( Saethern et al., 2022 , p. 356).
Goal setting	23	‘I really love the part how we set goals every week, and it really comes out of you. Then you set your goals and you go do it’ (Sommers, 2015, p. 114).
Organising	20	Sean noted, ‘[my coach] has helped me be more focused [and] organized with my work’ (Barton, 2023, p. 94).
Identifying and solving problems	11	‘Academic coaches engage students in a process of examining the nature of their concern to build awareness of their challenge’ (Combs, 2015, p. 104).
Academic planning	9	‘I meet with my assigned academic coach every semester to evaluate my classes and plan for those courses where I didn’t do so well and have to retake’ (Zarazua, 2019, p. 55).
Guidance and Vision	4	‘I see myself as helping them to navigate through the process […] They need to get perspective and I’m there to help them get perspective’ ( Brooks, Istas & Barth, 2020 , p. 3).
Identifying strengths	2	‘Grace explained how she helped students identify strengths or areas they are proud of during first meetings with students’ (Sepulveda, 2020, p. 156).
Selecting a career	11	‘Coaches indicated that they seek to improve the coachees’ awareness of the possible consequences of choosing an alternative and the associated feelings by asking them to anticipate their state of mind if they had decided to pursue a particular career’ ( Morais & Hariskos, 2018 , p. 7).
Employment preparation	10	‘Student C explained that his academic coach helps him with not only the basics of academic coaching but with preparation for career opportunities’ (Wilner, 2020, p. 34).
Work-life balance	8	‘Student provides a view of how work life balance changed their perspective from solely focusing on academics to introducing other aspects of their life’ (Combs, 2015, p. 88).
Post-graduation planning	4	‘An undergraduate psychology student's layered request for help with deciding minor, if studying abroad is reasonable, explaining degree evaluation, and degree planning’ ( Grabsch, Peña & Parks, 2021 , p. 9).

While the tabulated sub-themes provide a structured overview of the extracted codes, the development of the proposed framework involved a higher-order interpretive process. Rather than treating the seven themes as discrete categories, they were analysed relationally to identify patterns of interaction and functional alignment. This enabled the transformation of descriptive findings into a conceptual framework illustrating how dimensions of academic coaching collectively contribute to student development. Taken together, the themes represent a developmental trajectory from intrapersonal foundations to strategic action and career-related outcomes. The framework thus moves beyond simple categorisation by highlighting the integrative and multi-dimensional nature of academic coaching in higher education. Figure 2 presents the resulting framework.

Figure 2.

The conceptual framework of academic coaching functions in universities.

Theme 1: Psychological Empowerment

The coach's belief in the coachee's ability significantly impacts coaching in higher education (Dolatkhah Laein & Andam, 2025). Through validation, encouragement and ownership of sessions, coaches foster essential skills such as motivation, self-esteem, guided learning and a growth mindset. This function contributes to improved well-being, reduced burnout and increased persistence in higher education. This theme primarily reflects the intrapersonal dimension of the framework, comprising 136 open codes organised into five sub-themes.

Self-confidence and Self-esteem: Academic coaching can play a crucial role in increasing students’ self-confidence and self-esteem, as reflected in the greatest number of codes within this theme. Academic coaching sessions help students gain a stronger sense of self and enhance confidence in their skills and potential (Barton, 2023). This heightened self-esteem and confidence can lead to increased participation in educational activities, improved academic performance, retention and the ability to build meaningful relationships beyond academic context.

Motivating Students: Coaching supports students during challenging periods by fostering motivation, perseverance and goal-oriented behaviour. In addition to sending motivational and encouraging messages, the coach proactively reaches out to students (Black, 2023). By fostering motivation, coaches not only help students complete their studies but also teach them how to become better learners.

Academic Mindset and Behaviour: Coaching helps students develop a mindset that brings out their skills and strengths (Warner, Neater, Clark & Lee, 2018). During academic coaching sessions, students develop greater critical awareness of their own actions and those of others, leading to a deeper understanding of their roles (Saethern et al., 2022). By helping students develop their mindset, coaches enhance academic persistence and behaviours. Empowered both mentally and behaviourally, students can connect more effectively with professors, engage in class discussions and adapt their learning strategies.

Stress Management: Students encounter a unique set of academic and social stressors during their studies, which can be challenging (Howlett et al., 2021). Coaches offer strategies to help alleviate this stress. By managing stress, students can reduce anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed, resulting in improved well-being and stronger beliefs in their ability to perform tasks.

Flexibility and Resilience: Developing and improving a sense of grit and resilience can help students stay the course when things get difficult (Barton, 2023) and feel a greater sense of control (Saethern et al., 2022). By employing various coaching methods, coaches support students in developing resilience to cope with and adapt to challenges. This function can be especially important for first-year students who face multiple obstacles.

Theme 2: Educational Content

Students require structured academic support to achieve their educational goals. This theme encompasses scholarly goals that students would like to accomplish throughout their time at the institution (Grabsch et al., 2021). Academic coaching facilitates engagement with educational processes and contributes to improved performance, retention and academic integration. This theme aligns with the academic dimension of the framework, comprising 134 open codes organised into five sub-themes.

University Compatibility: Supporting students’ adjustment to university is a key function of academic coaching, reflected in the majority of codes within this theme. It facilitates both social and academic integration, enhancing students’ connectedness to the institution (Martinez, 2015). Through encouragement and guidance, coaches support students in engaging with academic staff and the wider university community. This support is particularly valuable for first-generation students (Howlett et al., 2021) and can extend beyond coaching sessions, fostering greater involvement and strengthening the sense of belonging.

Educational Outcome: Academic coaching contributes to improved academic performance, including higher grades and successful navigation of academic requirements (Kleen, 2021). Students may engage in coaching for various reasons, such as course requirements or support with academic tasks (Chunn, 2019; Najibi, Carney, Thayer & Deiorio, 2019). Through the application of coaching strategies, students can achieve sustained improvements in their academic outcomes.

Study Skills: Students often do not know how to study for the amount and complexity of information in all of their classes (Cox-Davenport, 2017). Coaching supports the development of effective study strategies and memory techniques, enabling students to engage more efficiently with their coursework and improve learning outcomes.

Increasing Retention: Coaches can play an important role in helping discouraged students reconsider dropping out and instead commit to completing their degrees. The relationship that students form with their coach is indeed a powerful and effective retention tool (Vadell et al., 2016), encouraging them to remain on campus longer. The supportive coach–student relationship encourages persistence and reduces the likelihood of dropout, particularly among at-risk students.

Enhancing Performance: The intention of coaching is to facilitate change; whether it involves becoming a better athlete, educator or student, coaching functions to improve an individual's skill set and enhance their performance in some way (Barton, 2023). Through guided practice and feedback, students develop new strategies and behaviours that support sustained academic growth.

Theme 3: Skills Development

Academic coaching plays a key role in developing transferable skills necessary for academic and professional success. Although coaching is often short-term and focused on specific areas of improvement (Clutterbuck & Megginson, 2005), it enables students to acquire strategies that support their performance and long-term development. This theme contributes to both the intrapersonal and academic dimensions of the framework, comprising 98 open codes organised into six sub-themes.

Time Management: Time management plays a crucial role in academic success (Barton, 2023; Cox-Davenport, 2017; Kelikian, 2020). Developing this skill is a central function of academic coaching, reflected in the highest number of codes within this theme. Coaches equip students with tools and strategies to improve their time management, enabling them to effectively balance both academic and non-academic activities. Enhancing this skill can be especially beneficial for postgraduate students.

Individual Skills: Academic coaching helps students become empowered (Lewis, 2023). Coaches help students trust their own skill sets and potential through personal growth support and accountability during coaching sessions. Academic coaching fosters personal development by helping students recognise and utilise their strengths and capabilities.

Organisational Skills: One of the identified functions of academic coaching that can benefit students in their academic and professional lives is the acquisition of organisational skills and executive performance. Academic coaching assists students in developing organisational skills both directly and indirectly (Wolff et al., 2020). Coaches provide strategies that enable students to develop the ability to manage tasks, responsibilities and workloads more effectively.

Communication Skills: Academic coaching can enhance students’ communication and engagement within academic and social contexts. These skills influence how students interact with peers, lecturers and university staff, and are particularly important for students with disabilities (Wilner, 2020).

Listening Skill: As active listening is central to effective coaching (Dolatkhah Laein & Andam, 2025), students can develop this skill through observation and participation in coaching sessions. This includes learning to engage in attentive and non-judgemental listening, which supports more effective communication.

Questioning Skill: Students learn how to ask questions appropriately through interaction with coaches (Sommers, 2015), thereby refining their questioning skills. This critical skill, fostered by academic coaching, not only enriches students’ academic experiences but also contributes to their success in non-academic pursuits and interpersonal relationships beyond university.

Theme 4: Holistic Support

Students seek academic coaching for a variety of purposes, ranging from academic to extracurricular and personal. Therefore, coaches provide holistic support in their communication with students to encompass various aspects of the students’ lives. This approach strengthens students’ overall capacity to persist and succeed. This theme functions as a cross-cutting dimension within the framework, comprising 95 open codes organised into four sub-themes.

Supporting Academic Activities: Supporting students’ academic activities is a key function of academic coaching, highlighted as the most significant aspect within this theme. By providing a supportive relationship, coaches inspire students to trust in their abilities, tackle academic challenges and take proactive steps towards success. Strong academic support within coaching has been identified as an effective factor in students’ decisions to persist and complete their studies (Zarazua, 2019), particularly during the early stages of higher education.

Supporting Non-academic Activities: Personal circumstances and external challenges can affect students’ ability to focus on their academic work. During coaching sessions, students begin to trust their coaches and feel comfortable discussing personal issues (Scott, 2017). Support in non-academic areas can therefore play a significant role in improving students’ overall functioning and engagement.

Emotional Support: Mental health challenges can negatively affect students’ academic performance (Wijbenga et al., 2024). Emotional support and encouragement are needed not only during times when students are struggling with multiple problems (Scott, 2017) but also throughout their entire educational journey. Academic coaching offers encouragement and emotional stability, helping students cope with stress and maintain resilience.

Well-being Support: Students’ physical health and overall well-being are closely linked to academic success. Academic coaching can enhance students’ awareness of well-being and support the development of healthier habits (Blankenship, 2017). By addressing these aspects, coaches help students maintain a more balanced and sustainable approach to their studies.

Theme 5: Self-Empowerment

IQ (cognitive ability), EQ (emotional intelligence) and SQ (spiritual intelligence) each provide valuable insights that contribute to helping individuals be purposeful and effective in how they live, work and play (Clutterbuck, 2022). Academic coaching affects the students’ metacognitive skills and cognitive processes (Saethern et al., 2022). One of the impactful roles of academic coaching is student self-empowerment. Coaches help students build self-empowerment by fostering cognitive skills, cultivating a growth mindset and enhancing awareness of their personal potential. This theme reinforces the intrapersonal domain of the framework, comprising 86 open codes organised into five sub-themes.

Self-reflection: The ability of students to engage in self-reflection is a key function of academic coaching, holding the most codes in this theme. Coaching sessions provide space, structure and support for reflection on areas for improvement (Boyd et al., 2022). Through this process, students develop the capacity to evaluate their experiences, make informed decisions and support their ongoing academic and personal development.

Self-efficacy: Academic coaching has a significant impact on students’ academic self-efficacy (Maul, Berman & Ames, 2018; McPhee, 2021). By fostering autonomy, coaches inspire and motivate students to engage actively in both academic and non-academic pursuits. Enhancing self-efficacy enables students to better manage their responsibilities (Barton, 2023) and take greater control of their academic progress, which is particularly important in demanding academic contexts.

Self-care: Self-care involves intentional actions to care for one's physical, mental and emotional health (Combs, 2015). Coaches assist students in evaluating their needs and establishing personalised self-care strategies. This process can reduce anxiety, improve energy management and enhance overall well-being.

Self-awareness: One of the functions of academic coaching is to foster self-awareness among students, enabling them to better understand their own abilities. Coaching can help students gain more self-awareness (Sepulveda, 2020). This increased awareness supports more effective decision-making and contributes to both academic progress and personal development.

Self-regulation: Academic coaching empowers students to become self-directed learners (Lewis, 2023). By strengthening agency and self-management, students are better able to regulate their learning processes and remain purposeful in their academic and personal activities.

Theme 6: Strategic Empowerment

Genuine empowerment relates to individuals’ capacity to take control of their development through informed decision-making and purposeful action (Clutterbuck, 1998). In the context of academic coaching, this involves supporting the development of strategic and executive skills that enable students to plan, organise and direct their academic and professional trajectories. This theme contributes to the future-oriented dimension of the framework, comprising 69 open codes organised into six sub-themes.

Goal Setting: Improving and strengthening goal setting is a key function of academic coaching, holding the most codes in this theme. During sessions, coaches emphasise areas such as goal setting (Sepulveda & Birnbaum, 2022) and actively encourage students to discuss their objectives, whether academic or non-academic. Academic coaching supports the identification and prioritisation of goals, promoting structured and purposeful action.

Organising: Developing the ability to organise schedules and tasks is a key function of academic coaching. During sessions, coaches provide students with effective planning strategies (Saethern et al., 2022) that they can apply to structure their schedules. The ability to organise enables students to develop a better work-life balance (Brooks et al., 2020) and improve their activities in both academic and personal areas.

Identifying and Solving Problems: Student coaching may be an effective intervention strategy to mitigate the problems related to poor academic performance (Martinez, 2015). Academic coaching can enhance students’ ability to recognise challenges and apply appropriate problem-solving strategies. Coaches interact with students to identify both academic and non-academic obstacles, offering tailored recommendations and strategies to overcome them.

Academic Planning: At the beginning of the semester, coaches get acquainted with students, collect their syllabi and help them create a study plan for the semester (Warren, 2019). They equip students with strategies to use all their time wisely and proactively prepare for upcoming semesters. During coaching sessions, students learn to structure their academic pathways and prepare for future demands.

Guidance and Vision: Coaches guide learners to achieve their fullest potential by evaluating performance via the review of objective assessments (Deiorio et al., 2016). Academic coaching plays a crucial role in addressing students’ dissatisfaction or lack of motivation by providing guidance and fostering a clear vision for their future. By helping students envision their ideal outcomes or successes, coaches help students develop a clear sense of direction and long-term perspective.

Identifying Strengths: Through collaborative processes, students identify their capabilities and apply them to overcome weaknesses and achieve their goals (Debrowski, 2015). During initial sessions, coaches engage students in a collaborative process to recognise and leverage their strengths to support growth and performance.

Theme 7: Career Readiness

Coaching in higher education has the potential to support students’ development of employability competencies, which will, in turn, foster their transition to the workplace (van der Baan, Nuis, Beausaert, Gijselaers & Gast, 2024). In this context, academic coaching contributes to students’ readiness for post-university pathways by strengthening skills related to employability and career decision-making. This theme represents the future-oriented outcomes of the framework, comprising 33 open codes organised into four sub-themes.

Selecting a Career: Helping students select their future careers is a key function of academic coaching, reflected in most codes in this theme. Students often attend coaching sessions with a variety of goals, including employment-related aspirations (Blankenship, 2017). Academic coaching can help students explore career options and make informed decisions about their future paths.

Employment Preparation: Academic coaching contributes to students’ professional development by preparing them for employment opportunities. Through activities such as mock interviews, career assessments and CV development (Wilner, 2020), coaches equip students with essential skills to excel in future employment.

Work-life Balance: Coaches apply their practices to support students’ learning strategies by engaging them in activities that focus on work–life balance (Combs, 2015). They encourage students to focus not only on academic subjects but also on other important aspects of life, fostering a balance between academic, personal, and professional responsibilities.

Post-graduation Planning: The leading mission of higher education institutions is the graduation or educational advancement of individuals from one level to another (Chunn, 2019). Academic coaching can assist students in preparing for life after university and navigating future opportunities.

Conclusion and Future Research

This study developed a qualitative meta-synthesis of academic coaching functions in higher education and proposed an integrative conceptual framework. The findings extend beyond descriptive aggregation by identifying seven interrelated functional domains through which coaching supports student development: psychological empowerment, educational support, skills development, holistic support, self-empowerment, strategic empowerment and career readiness. Thogether, these domains reflect a multi-dimensional structure encompassing academic, motivational, metacognitive and career-related functions. The framework contributes to the conceptual consolidation of academic coaching by integrating fragmented findings into a unified structure and clarifying the relationships between its core domains. In practice, it offers a structured guide for designing, implementing and evaluating academic coaching programmes in higher education, particularly in relation to self-regulation, motivation and career preparation. The findings should, however, be interpreted within the boundaries of the included literature, which primarily focuses on academic coaching in higher education settings.

While this synthesis offers a conceptual understanding of academic coaching's functional domains, it is limited by its reliance on previously published qualitative studies. Future research should empirically examine how these functions operate across disciplines, institutional settings and cultural contexts. Furthermore, applying and refining the proposed framework in real institutional settings will strengthen the evidence base for developing discipline-specific and contextually relevant coaching programmes in higher education. Longitudinal and mixed-method designs are also recommended to explore how academic coaching functions evolve over time and influence student outcomes at different stages of academic progression. Furthermore, comparative research examining the boundaries between academic coaching and other coaching models would provide greater conceptual clarity and enhance the applicability of the framework across contexts.