Just over two thirds of coaches in the UK are female, more than 45 years old and educated to second degree-level, a study has revealed.
The majority have also been coaching for more than five years, with two thirds at it for more than 10, with the topic of ‘leadership’ being the biggest money-spinner. Moreover, the average coaching relationship usually lasts anything from between four months and a year.
These are the key findings of the International Coach Federation‘s Global Coaching Study, released to coincide with International Coaching Week, which takes place from Sunday 5 until Saturday 11 February.
Although the profile of the average UK coach is largely in line with colleagues in North America and Western Europe, the area of greatest difference is in earnings, with Western Europeans earning more than their American colleagues, although this could be partially due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Most respondents, whereever they were located, however, anticipated that their income would continue to rise over the next 12 months.
On the downside, a good number of coaches believed that the public were confused about the benefits of the approach, which they felt acted as the major obstacle to adoption. The majority also felt that professional organisations were best-placed to introduce greater regulation if that was deemed necessary.
The findings are largely similar to the ICF’s first study that was published in 2007, although the number of active clients per coach has doubled, from five to 10. In the UK, face-to-face contact, rather than by telephone, has also increased by more than 20% to 77%.
The ICF has seen its membership grown from 11,000 when the last survey took place to almost 19,000 now.
