Supervision meetings – doctoral students’ and supervisors’ perspectives

Abstract

Several styles and approaches among research supervisors could be observed. Style and approach affects communication and relation between student and supervisor. A key part of doctoral supervision is the supervision meeting. In order study setting, goal and satisfaction among supervisors and students, a small scale qualitative study was conducted. Students at LTH and their supervisors were interviewed separately, using a semi-structured approach. Findings show quite coherent results in terms of frequency, setting, purpose and general satisfaction. No single best way of preparing and proceeding with supervision meetings could be identified, as meetings are products of individual aspects such as supervisor experience, level of progress, number of co-supervisors and type of research. Some cases illustrate that short encounters were appreciated by all parts. There are indications of both advantages and limitations of having common meetings with all supervisors from different backgrounds. It seems to be useful to make an appointment for the next meeting(s). While note taking and meeting minutes seem scarce, both students and supervisor regard these as valuable items in order to keep track of the process and progress. Over time, student and supervisors become partners, and a transfer from formal meetings towards hands-on meetings occurs, driven by maturity and progress. Regarding satisfaction, supervisors as well as students seem satisfied. Finally, the results underscore the complexity of the supervision role. Since the meetings illustrate the various roles of doctoral supervision it could be concluded that good supervision meetings serve as necessary facilitators for avoiding traps, pitfalls and other critical issues on the way towards a doctoral degree.