MONARCH BUSINESS SCHOOL
Doctor of
Coaching
YOUR EXPERIENCE · YOUR EXPERTISE · YOUR NEXT STEP
You have helped others move forward. Build on that experience through a doctoral project that matters to your coaching practice. Develop a distinctive area of expertise, strengthen your professional standing and turn the questions behind your work into insights you can use and share.
DCOACH · PROGRAMME BROCHURE · SEPTEMBER 2026
BUILDING ON YOUR EXPERIENCE
Your next step as an
experienced coach.
For experienced executive, leadership, team and professional coaches ready to take their practice further.
For many coaches, there comes a point when the next step is less about another coaching certification and more about what they can contribute from years of practice. The Doctor of Coaching offers a way to build on that experience and earn a doctoral qualification through work that matters to you.
Study alongside your work
Fully online study and individual faculty guidance allow you to remain active professionally while developing a focused doctoral project.
Choose your pathway
A minimum 24-month standard pathway or minimum 48-month extended pathway supports planning around your professional responsibilities.
Start with a question from practice.
Explore what makes coaching effective, how clients turn insight into lasting change, or how your approach could better meet the needs of the people you support. Your experience provides a starting point; faculty guidance helps you shape it into a manageable, purposeful inquiry.
Build expertise you can put to work.
Develop insights for your coaching or consulting offering, share your work through writing and speaking, or bring deeper expertise into coach education and programme leadership. The DCoach can strengthen your professional standing and the contribution you make to clients, organisations and peers.
Award: Doctor of Coaching (DCoach)
Study: Fully online · English · Supervised research
Assessment: Original doctoral thesis and oral defence
EXPERIENCE MEETS INQUIRY
One question.
A meaningful contribution.
Build your project step by step, with faculty guidance and clear research milestones.
01 · Prepare
Build confidence in coaching scholarship, research methods, critical reflection and academic writing.
02 · Frame
Shape a focused question and practical research design. The formal proposal is developed through the research preparation and proposal stages while in the program in conjunction with the faculty.
03 · Investigate
Study coaching in context. Gather and analyse evidence through approved research, with appropriate consent, confidentiality and ethical safeguards.
04 · Synthesise
Develop your thesis, connect your findings with existing scholarship and explain what your work contributes to coaching practice.
05 · Present your contribution.
Discuss and defend your research through oral examination and complete any required revisions. The programme, including the doctoral defence, is designed to be completed online without relocation.
Explore the questions behind your work.
Your project might investigate coaching relationships and trust, client development, team coaching, supervision, ethical judgement, intercultural practice or the use of AI in coaching. These are possibilities for inquiry, allowing you to develop a question that fits your experience and interests.
Minimum duration establishes the earliest graduation eligibility. Completion also requires fulfilment of the research, thesis, defence and all other academic requirements.
SCHOLARSHIP CONNECTED TO PRACTICE
Meet your programme faculty.
Perspectives from leadership, neuroscience, coaching and positive psychology connect doctoral inquiry with professional practice.
Dr. Donald York
Leadership · Organisational culture · Group dynamics
Professor of Leadership Studies and Dean of Student Development at Monarch, Dr. York brings experience supervising master’s and doctoral research. His background combines business research, counselling and spirituality, and behavioural neuropsychology. His interests in leadership, organisational culture and group dynamics are complemented by extensive work in healthcare education and critical care.
Dr. Marlene González
Neuroscience · Leadership transitions · Human development
A dual-doctorate Monarch graduate, Dr. González brings over three decades of global executive experience, including senior leadership roles at McDonald’s Corporation. She leads Crecentia Group in the United States and Latin America, connecting neuroscience research with leadership development. Her work examines identity, emotional regulation and adaptation during leadership transitions.
Dr. Kerstin Jatho
Coaching · Positive psychology · Team development
Professor of Coaching and Leadership at Monarch, Dr. Jatho works with team and executive leaders in Europe and South Africa. She holds a master’s degree with distinction in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of East London. Her interests include employee well-being, human-centred organisations, hybrid leadership and learning and development.
MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE COUNT
Bring your experience.
Build your next contribution.
For practitioners ready to deepen their expertise and investigate the questions that matter in their work.
Who is the DCoach for?
Experienced executive, leadership, team and organisational coaches, as well as coaching supervisors and educators. Bring a question grounded in practice and a willingness to explore new perspectives on your work.
Prepare your next step.
Your academic background, coaching experience and initial research interests provide the starting point. You do not need a completed proposal at the outset: your formal proposal develops within the programme in conjunction with faculty.
Admissions assessment considers academic preparation, professional experience, research readiness and supervisory fit. Programme-specific entry requirements and the first available intake will be confirmed as part of the DCoach launch.
Plan your doctoral study.
Review the programme webpage for current details and visit Monarch’s tuition page for tuition and payment information.
YOUR PRACTICE. YOUR NEXT CONTRIBUTION.
You’ve helped others
move forward.
Now it’s your turn.
Start your Doctor of Coaching program at Monarch Business School and move your career to the next level.
Start your DCoach application →
MONARCH SWITZERLAND
Vorderbergstrasse 34 · CH-6318 Walchwil, Zug · Switzerland
umonarch.ch · administration@umonarch.ch
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