Rewriting my thesis

In 2003, I took graduate classes in Work science in Sweden but didn't pass my exam paper, unexpectedly, and without any real stated reasons. This has haunted me for many years, so this year I decided to give it a new try. First of all, the profession Job coach, or Career coach, was all new in Sweden back then and therefore seen upon as controversial or with a tendency to mean shady courses for personal development. When in fact, coaching is built on one-on-one live sessions where every meeting is unique for each client, even if some situations or needs might be similar and not a course at all. It's simply an alternative to guidance counseling and academic advising, or job performance reviews, with a focus on the whole life situation to see which conditions are needed and how these can be formed with a better work-life balance to reach one's goals. I did work as one, after taking another year of classes in conversation technique, with one semester focused on coaching and mentoring with evaluated and recorded trial sessions, developed after my paper anway. Nonetheless, not having the actual Master's degree, has been a thorn in my side for a long time!

After reading through my old paper, I could see lots of room for improvement and how I've gained lots of knowledge that I now could use to rewrite it. I've kept the result of my interviews with various other professions in comparison to coaching, added one, and my own experiences, and then added new theories with examples of different models used for similar aims, such as Motivational Interviewing, Emphatic conversations and The Skilled Helper-model, besides the Co-Active coaching model. All to match each with a profession. To make it more visible and interesting, i've also included some findings of whether or not each profession and model are using a positive theory on humans or negative, and a coaching approach or not. Not surprisingly, most models used by state financed programs, seem more keen on steering the client a specifically desired way, almost contrary to the coaching way, which I believe to be one of the reasons why Sweden has such a high unemployment rate.

I've now submitted my paper for review and hope it doesn't need more than minor adjustments. I'm used to writing freely and to have my own professional integrity and authority as a copywriter, so this academic piece hasn't been without resistance both from my side and my academic teacher-tutor's. I'll let you know how it goes! Here is my abstract:

The scope of this thesis in Science of Working Life, is to suggest why the Swedish Employment Agency government program Rusta och Matcha isn’t producing the desired result to decrease unemployment. To become unemployed, can be unsettling and require various types of support, such as job performance reviews, counselling, academic advising and job coaching, as well as support of the transition into a new professional identity that can take on an existential aspect. Through a qualitative study, six interviews were made with different professions using the dialogue as their service for students and/or unemployed. This together with my own experience expressed through the auto-ethnographic method, has led to the finding that the Swedish Employment Agency has focused on quantity and controlling the attendees, rather than ensuring qualitative measures being taken and controlling the consultants and whether they’re fulfilling their contracts. To get a new job, start a business, or get a new education, isn’t only a result of the current situation on the market, but a question of finding one’s own purpose and passion, creating fulfillment and balance in life together with financial independence. To support individuals to reach this type of self-actualization, requires a coaching attitude and approach that not all counselling professions offer. The offered empathy becomes false, when the helper can’t relate with the same experience and not providing compassion. This is mainly due to the kind of outlook on life that these professions work according, often divided into either a positive view on humans; believing the client to be resourceful, creative and capable, or a more negative view; believing the client to be lazy, lack insight and in need of control to perform well on the job, as defined by McGregor. Unlike motivational interviewing, the coaching approach offers a more comprehensive definition of conditions, based on the client’s own agenda, which is more motivating. I suggest that the current contractors for the Rusta och Matcha program, should become educated according to the Co-Active coaching model and then a new study can be undertaken to measure the quality and effect of their individual sessions.

I hope to work as a coach again, both with one-on-one sessions and with smaller groups.