Doctoral Supervision: Issues and Perspectives

Abstract

In a technologically advanced world characterized by an increasingly competitive global economy, attention has shifted to the requirements of quality doctoral education and training. In the era of cutting-edge information technologies and their corollary global transformations, postgraduate research students and their supervisors should contribute to the production of commendable research that meets academic criteria and standards. And since student researchers are currently required to complete their doctoral thesis in a comparatively shorter time span, it has become incumbent upon them and their trainers to build a relationship based on a set of practical codes in order to avoid or surmount stumbling blocks along the way. To give impetus to the interactions between the supervisor and his/her supervisee, this paper addresses the enormity of the task awaiting them as they navigate through their ultimate destination. In order not to impinge on the notion of habitus – or what Bourdieu characterizes as the socialized norms and propensities that determine our behavior and thinking – the research student and their supervisor should jointly work towards creating a positive academic environment devoid of tensions and contradictions. One among other questions this paper strives to answer is: What kinds of skills, attributes, and competencies should doctoral students and their supervisors acquire? A response to this query entails a review of recently produced literature in the sphere of doctoral education and training, which is, however, still undertheorized and underrepresented. A critical reflection on the data obtained from literature will hopefully provide some new insights into the nature of doctoral supervision in a swiftly changing world. Inspired by the maritime metaphor used by some scholars, I come to the conclusion that a successful defense of a PhD paper should not be the end of the journey for the candidate, who is recommended to envision other avenues so as to broaden his/her intellectual horizons. Part of the supervisors' onus is also to update themselves on innovative doctoral pedagogies to ensure a successful supervisory experience.