Postgraduate Supervision

This book provides a basic introduction to the supervision of postgraduate studies. At the centre of each discussion are examples of best practices and guidelines on how to deal with all aspects associated with postgraduate supervision. Both the postgraduate student and the novice supervisor are targeted in this book, although seasoned supervisors could also benefit from the reflections. In the development of a supervision culture a comprehensive research guide is needed.

ÿThe 24 chapters contained in this volume provide diverse but also congruent perspectives on future foci for research into postgraduate education and supervision in the knowledge society. The chapters move from deliberations on challenges for postgraduate supervision at macro level (such as the pressure to increase postgraduate output and the implications of increasingly managerialist institutions) to meso level matters (the form and function of postgraduate education in specific countries) to the micro (rich case studies of individual institutions, programmes and supervisors).

An excellent collection of diverse and deeply reflective perspectives. All offer insights into the multiple challenges confronted in improving the quality and depth of postgraduate supervision, increasing throughput, and dealing with complexity. What is also affirmed is the importance of individual capability in supervision that is developed and nurtured over time, and through arduous effort. The book will be of value to novice supervisors and to more experienced ones. Policy makers, planners and administrators looking to enlarge their understanding of the postgraduate terrain in all its complexities will find the mix of theoretical and practical lenses through which the topic is approached particularly illuminating. - Professor Narend Baijnath, Chief Executive Officer, Council on Higher Education

The impact of globalisation and aggressive marketing by universities has increased the flow of international or culturally diverse students enrolling in postgraduate research degree programs outside their own countries. As access to postgraduate education widens, more local culturally diverse and Indigenous students are also enrolling in higher degree studies. As a result, significantly more academics now engage in intercultural supervision or supervising students who are culturally different to themselves. This book argues that empowering intercultural supervision can result from more nuanced, critical and theoretically-based understandings of time, place and knowledge. It shows how a range of ‘Southern’ theories (including postcolonial, Indigenous, feminist, social and cultural geography theories) about history, geography and knowledge can offer fresh insights into intercultural supervision. The author suggests that by using the conceptual tools offered by these Southern theories, the more complex but potentially rich aspects of intercultural supervision can be better understood and grappled with. In particular, these theories enable us to challenge assumptions about the universality and timelessness of Northern knowledge, and to create space for the recovery and further development of Southern, Eastern and Indigenous knowledges within intercultural supervision. This book will be of value to academic supervisors and postgraduate students, especially those engaged in intercultural supervision, as well as researchers and scholars in the field of higher education.

Within postgraduate studies, student non-completion, attrition, and failure rates range from 29% to 65%. These unacceptably high failure rates have been attributed to wide-ranging influences. Even so, there is consensus that postgraduate supervision represents a critical enabling vehicle for student success. Reflections on postgraduate supervision and academic development in an African distance education environment offers a collection of scholarly contributions that focus on critical questions related to the practice of postgraduate supervision, from the multiple perspectives of higher education institutions, postgraduate students, and supervisors. The inclusion of contributions from educators and learners in one manuscript makes this a unique text – one that should be the mainstay of any scholar engaged in postgraduate studies. The manuscript aptly makes the case for recognising that postgraduate preparation and supervision are the most critical contributing factors to the success of postgraduate learners, and by inference, they represent a significant panacea to many of Africa’s social and economic skills.

This book is a very important contribution to theÿgrowing body of work on postgraduate,ÿand specificallyÿdoctoral, education ... I find the metaphor ofÿpushing boundaries to be very appropriate, as itÿsuggests a field of study and a range of behavioursÿand institutional organisational approaches toÿpostgraduate education that are dynamic andÿcharacterised by fluidity, creativity and challengeÿ... Readers will gain new theoretical perspectives,ÿideas for improved practice, and fresh perspectivesÿon boundaries and pressing issues that deserve toÿbe pushed and conceptualised in new ways. -ÿProfessor Ann Austin (Higher, Adult and Lifelong EducationÿMichigan State University)

After centuries of barely visible incremental development, postgraduate education has experienced twenty years of considerable turbulence as governments recognise its latent power, some responding more quickly than others and each in different ways. This anthology, drawing on research, deep reflection and praxis, illustrates the current situation in a range of geographical environments that result from such interventions, or lack of them, providing readers both with information about neglected contexts, challenges and concerns and with stimulating ideas about how they might be managed more effectively. Professor Emerita Pam Denicolo University of Reading, UK

What kind of problems are encountered while undertaking postgraduate study? How are these problems best avoided or resolved? How can the student/supervisor relationship be improved? This practical guide is based on a series of successful workshops on postgraduate supervision and presents the most frequently encountered difficulties in the student/supervisor relationship. Detailed but concise case studies offer realistic solutions to the thirty issues discussed, including: Conflict Culture Distance Funding Isolation Language Management Plagiarism Priority Time Transfer Write-up Each case study raises important questions to generate discussion, and suggests solutions and preventative measures. The book also includes a section that shows how the case studies can be used in a teaching workshop setting. Effective Postgraduate Supervisionis essential reading for supervisors of postgraduate degrees including those at masters and doctoral level as well as prospective and current postgraduate research students.