Improving Doctoral Success by Matching PhD Students with Supervisors

Abstract

A key aspect of the effective supervision of PhD research is the supervisor-student relationship. This interaction is affected by the characteristics and needs of students and institutional conditions, as well as the skills, attitudes, and roles of supervisors and their supervisory styles. When supervision is carried out at a distance, it entails an additional challenge, mainly concerning interaction. The purpose of this study is to improve the research process, supervision, and design of virtual environments in order to support this supervision. The study identifies the supervisory relationships that affect doctoral research conducted at a distance from the student's academic institution. It also describes how students and their supervisors perceived the characteristics of supervision and the skills and attitudes students perceived in and expected from their supervisors. For data collection, semistructured interviews were used. The results indicate important differences between supervisors' perceptions concerning their own role and students' needs regarding supervision, and they demonstrate the importance of attending to student needs and, on the part of supervisors, exercising responsibility in the development of research competencies in students, as is the case of independence of criteria and autonomy.

A Preliminary Examination of Doctoral Student Retention Factors in Private Online Workspaces

“…Berman et al (2012) posited that doctoral students require additional support during the dissertation phase when they encounter unexpected problems. Supervisors are tasked with developing research competencies in students, while simultaneously encouraging independence (Orellana, Darder, Pérez, & Salinas, 2016). When students are confident in research-oriented activities, they more likely have the ability to perform research-related tasks (Lambie et al, 2014).…”

“…Educators are searching for approaches to respond to the needs of nontraditional doctoral students who are geographically distributed and part-time. Remote students must rely on systems that enable communication management such as email, video, and virtual learning environments (Orellana et al, 2016). It is important to examine methods that enable remote, nontraditional students to succeed in doctoral programs, especially as they enter the challenging dissertation phase.…”

The Doctoral Mentoring Relationship: The Phenomenology of Scholarly Leadership

“…Nieto likewise notes needed improvements in terms of the dissertation quality review processes, as e-mentors often and actively advocated for their students with the university's IRB (Instititutional Review Board). Also in the online environment, potential student/mentor relationship deficiencies could be addressed by more intentionally matching PhD students with a supervisor who is a better 'fit' in terms of research interests, experience, and overall leadership style (Orellana, Darder, Pérez, & Salinas, 2016).…”

The Flip Side of the Attrition Coin: Faculty Perceptions of Factors Supporting Graduate Student Success

“…Faculty mentors also provide psychosocial support that encourages graduate students to persist in the face of unexpected results (Barnes & Austin, 2009). However, faculty mentors must be cognizant of the balance between giving students support while "providing mentees academic space to form their own research identity" (Bagaka's, Badillo, Bransteter, & Rispinto, 2015, p. 324;Orellana, Darder, Pérez, & Salinas, 2016). Thus, it is not surprising that effective faculty mentorship predicts graduate student endurance and completion (Council of Graduate Schools, 2009) and also influences doctoral student post-graduation employment (Jackson & Michelson, 2015).…”