Coaching for Gender Diversity: A Thematic Analysis of Approaches, Frameworks, and Their Efficacy

This study examined executive coaching as an intervention to drive gender diversity in leadership in the workplace. In 2022, women represented 32% of c-suite and director roles globally and 4.6% of Fortune Global 500 chief executive officers, of which six were women of color. This illustrates challenges faced by countries, organizations, and leaders. Executive coaching, a growing global business, can be an effective leadership intervention, yet limited studies examine its use to address leadership gender imbalance. Therefore, it is critical we explore the practice-research gap to highlight effective executive coaching approaches and frameworks. Thematic analysis was used to explore three research questions. First, what approaches do coaches use to align with coachee and organizational context in gender diversity-driven engagements? Second, what frameworks (if any) do coaches use to support leaders, whether women or men (as allies), to increase gender diversity in leadership? Third, what is the efficacy of frameworks and approaches used by coaches? Seven experienced executive coaches were interviewed from Germany, Kenya, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Some support was found for previous research, as well as intriguing findings that women's leadership progression includes coaching men as gender partners. A further finding supports discussions on the coaching profession's neutrality about social issues. Three themes were generated in response to each research question: (a) "It's more than gender," (b) "Humanity before frameworks," and (c) "The notion of success is not simple." Findings expand practice-research gaps, encourage coaches and organizations to consider approaches, and provide a perspective for academia to build on.