Doctoral Supervision in North America: Perception and Challenges of Supervisor and Supervisee

Constance Denis, Nicole Rege Colet and Christelle Lison

Higher Education Studies, 2019, vol. 9, issue 1, 30-39

Abstract: The completion rate for graduate studies is around 50% in some programs, and several authors suggest that doctoral supervision in a key factor in explaining this. Existing research on doctoral education reveals an uneven international landscape made up of the perceptions of both doctoral students and their supervisors. In the French-speaking North American context, exploration of doctoral supervision practices still remains unchartered. As a part of the first author¡¯s doctoral thesis, interviews were conducted with 20 supervisors and 20 doctoral students from 8 different faculties. The purpose of these interviews was to capture their perceptions and experiences around doctoral supervision, and to explore with them the main issues related to doctoral supervision. Four dimensions for framing doctoral supervision have emerged from these interviews: a) scientific, b) personal, c) administrative and d) professional. Three main issues stretch along a timeline: 1) admission into a doctoral program, 2) mastering of scientific writing, and 3) employability. This study is an attempt to unpack the complexity of doctoral supervision and, in doing so, to construct a shared language for all concerned parties. The overall purpose of the doctoral research is to identify practices that support effective doctoral supervision and reduce the dropout rate.

Keywords: doctoral advisor; doctoral student; doctoral supervision; supervision practices; supervisor; student-supervisor relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/hes/article/download/0/0/37661/38024 (application/pdf)
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/hes/article/view/0/37661 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ibn:hesjnl:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:30-39

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Higher Education Studies from Canadian Center of Science and Education Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Canadian Center of Science and Education ().