Abstract
It is important for student leaders to be coached or groomed in their leadership positions in higher education institutions as they play an important role as the representatives of fellow students and for the institutions on the other hand. Leadership coaching can be associated with learning and development. The research focused on developing an emerging higher education leadership coaching framework. As the representatives of the institution, it is important for the leaders to be developed as a form of support for them to grow as leaders. Leaders play an important role in society. As student leaders, taking up the leadership role can be extended to outside the institution after they graduate. The role of student representatives is to lead their fellow students and ensure that student needs are taken to management to be addressed and that there is a flow of communication between students and management.
One cannot look at leadership without looking at leadership development and how it plays a part in grooming leaders for their leadership positions. The research purposively sampled nine participants who were students in leadership positions in a higher education institution. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants. An online platform was used for interviews with six participants, while three were face-to-face. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that leadership coaching is an intervention that can assist student leaders in their positions and can groom them to take up leadership positions later in society once they finish their studies. The participants identified an individual’s character as the main item that those who aspire to take up student leadership positions should first consider. The main contribution of this research is the conceptual framework that was developed that higher education institutions can use in student leadership coaching to support their student leaders in these roles. The main recommendation from the research is that institutions need to “facilitate that student leaders undergo student leadership coaching at the beginning of every tenure”.
Keywords: Leadership, leadership coaching, coaching, student leadership, student representatives, higher education institutions.