Studienberatung an der Universität Wien Ergebnisse der iYOT-Teilstudie zum Arbeitsalltag von StudienberaterInnen

Universities are increasingly challenged to offer professional counselling services to a heterogeneous audience. The perspective of academic advisors seldom comes into view. Who actually offers academic advising? How can the advising contact be described (role requirements, topics, formats, target audiences)? Under what conditions do advisors work (workload, education and professional development)? And how is academic advising different from other forms of counselling (psychological counselling, career counselling)? This article answers these questions and provides an outline of the field of academic advising using the example of the University of Vienna. It deals with the initial results of a qualitative study conducted as part of the Erasmus+ project "iYOT: In Your Own Time." The authors come to the conclusion that in academic advising, the transfer of information and knowledge is key; since those seeking advice often come to academic advising with life issues and emotional concerns, academic advisors are often caught between professional counselling and life coaching. (Ed.)