Expectations of the Student-Supervisor Relationship in Doctoral Studies

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue XI, November 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Expectations of the Student-Supervisor Relationship in Doctoral Studies

Cornelius Kipleting Rugut

Abstract: – Postgraduate supervision and particularly the student-supervisor relationship in doctoral studies has recently become a topic of great discussion in the academic arena. The relationship between the student and the supervisor is central to the successful completion of doctoral studies. As such, the focus of this study was to explore the nature of the student-supervisor relationship in the completion of educational doctoral studies in two African universities, namely, Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and Moi University in Kenya.
Aqualitative approach was used, located within an interpretivist paradigm and positioned as an intrinsic interpretive case study. Convenient and purposive sampling was utilized to select participants who had recently completed their doctoral studies in education within the last five years. An individual semi-structured interview and drawings were used to generate the data with ten participants, five from each of the two Universities. The data was analysed thematically and the model for interpersonal supervisor behaviour of Mainhard, Roeland, Tarkwijk and Wubbels (2009), was used to make meaning of the findings. The conclusions from the findings were used to generate implications which could be helpful to university management in improving postgraduate supervision and in so doing, promote the success rate of doctoral studies in African universities.

Keywords: – Student-supervisor relationship, Supervisor, CUE: Commission for University Education

I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

A relationship exists between the research student and his/her supervisor during the entire period of research to the time the student is awarded the degree, often times continuing after the awarding of the degree. The supervisor works with the student by guiding and directing the entire process of knowledge production. In this study, the student-supervisor relationship refers to the relationship between the supervisor and a doctoral candidate.
Supervision refers to a process where the supervisor oversees a research project (Lee, 2008). During this process the supervisor works with the research student through the provision and guidance of academic reading, developing logical and critical thinking, as well as providing guidance pertaining to the various writing requirements associated with the academic writing (Halse, 2011; Hodza, 2007).

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