Route success: case study connecting design thinking to student success

The purpose of this research is to introduce and test a comprehensive activity-based coaching program in an effort to better facilitate career and life planning capacity of undergraduate students. The semi-customised life design program was tailored to help students answer how they should approach the challenge of designing their own life's path while building the capacity to deal with roadblocks, limitations, and the fear of making choices. Quantitative data shows how the program significantly reduced participants' sense of career anxiety, improved their sense of hope for the future, and built their self-efficacy while moderately impacting their ability to set goals. This study provides insight on how to implement an institution-wide initiative centred on design thinking.