Supervision with a lack of expertise: problems and challenges

Abstract

Supervision of students by PhD candidates is often incorporated in the PhD program. This paper investigated the problems and challenges that may arise in supervising students as a result of lack of expertise of the supervisor. Introspection of three PhD candidates that have experienced this type of supervision situation as well as surveys were conducted in this investigation. The survey results showed that only approximately 10% of the supervised students had encountered this type of challenge. In the introspection cases where the challenge existed, several strategies to overcome this were applied by the supervisors. These strategies were compared to the ones found in literature. Strategies include generalist-styled guidance of the student promoting critical thinking and reflective learning, cooperative learning where the supervisor and the student learn together, assistance from more experienced colleagues, and self-reflection and personality assessment of the supervisor. Alternative strategies in literature which were not used by the supervisors in the study include peer teaching or student cooperation. In conclusion, the challenge involving lack of expertise of the supervisor may not be as common but when it happens, it does not necessarily have to be a problem. There are strategies available and the awareness of these strategies is an important tool in supervision.