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While much research has been done on how attitudes toward therapy relate to engagement in it, the willingness to engage in coaching has not yet been studied. As coaching continues to grow in popularity and makes its way into curricula of Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs, it is worth examining what factors may influence people's attitudes toward this new type of psychological support. With frequently noticed and discussed similarities between coaching and therapy, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether particular antecedents of engagement in therapy, namely mental health stigma and gender, would be equally relevant for engagement in coaching by MBA students.

This was survey research with 54 MBAs at a major European business school.

The results suggest that while gender does influence an individual's attitude toward therapy, it does not influence an individual's attitude toward coaching. Stigma, however, still impacts attitudes toward both therapy and coaching.

This paper focusses on attitudes. Further research could explore how closely attitudes result in specific behaviors, such as requesting a coach or agreeing to be coached when suggested by MBA program educators.

Implications concern positioning of coaching within MBA programs and preparation of coaches and educators.

Gender neutrality of willingness to engage in coaching suggests opportunities for acceptance of other forms of psychological support.

This paper is one of the early investigations of willingness to be coached, particularly in the MBA context.

I'VE said it before, and I'll say it again: Eastbourne is an excellent place for a conference, and I set out for it after five years' absence with the hope that its handsome and genial presence would produce something better than the mixture of ordinary, obvious and sometimes inaudible papers that have been a constituent of more than one intervening conference. That towns can affect such occasions is no doubt a farfetched conceit, but they certainly affect me; as soon as I arrived the environmental magic worked, and old friends and new faces were seen in the golden light of perfect autumn weather.