Improving the Development of Postgraduates’ Research and Supervision

Abstract

Research and supervision have become a vital process in the successful of postgraduate studies. Building an academic career path after Higher National Degree or Bachelor Degree needs intensive training and preparation. This culminates in writing of thesis or dissertation. In this process, the supervisor is designated to facilitate the student's research development based on good resources offered by the institution. At this stage, one of the most common complaints from research students concerns infrequent or erratic contact with supervisors, who may be too busy with administrative or teaching responsibilities, have too many students or be away from the university too often. The main objective of this paper is to expose what are postgraduate students' problems in research and supervision. The paper's thrust will be to highlight the importance of supervisory contribution to graduate study and to propose the best practice of supervisory inputs. Developing skills towards an effective supervision needs to be tackled in various ways. Effective supervision is essential to guide postgraduate students during their progress in postgraduate study.

Research mentoring: Suggestions and encouragement from a reflection exercise

“…17 Many graduate degree candidates fail to complete their degrees; in some disciplines, such as the humanities, the number of candidates who fail to complete degrees may exceed 50%. 18 Following good practice may help ensure completion of degrees and make the process manageable and enjoyable. 12 …”

“…22 It has been found that access to experienced researchers is important to a candidate's success. 18 This creates the dilemma of newly credentialed PhDs having difficulty gaining experience, and experience is a major criterion for good supervision. This problem may be overcome with cosupervision.…”

Factors Influencing Gen-Y Undergraduates’ Choice of Research Supervisor: A Case Study of a Malaysian Private University

“…It carries its significance from the fact that universities are emphasizing on quality research students in order to enhance their own image and rankings (Ismail et al, 2011). Information on the perceptions of students offers very important clues as to what they expect (Lessing & Schulze, 2002).…”

“…The same identities can be a source of "personal confidence, of resentment, of idealization, of stereotyping, or of dismissiveness" (Grant, 1999, p. 3). The nature of the student-supervisor relationship is potentially influenced by demographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity (Grant, 1999;Ismail et al, 2011). Kulik and Holbrook (2000) found that service providers' gender and ethnicity affected customers' reactions and acceptability of an unfavorable situation.…”

“…What factors affect a student's choice of supervisor, especially at the undergraduate level, is mostly an understudied area. Existing research on research supervision revolves around postgraduate students, and that too is limited to the period when the research students have actually initiated their research studies (Al-Naggar, Sarory, Al-Naggar, & Al-Muosli, 2012;Burnett, 1999;Fulton & Turner, 2008;Ismail et al, 2011;Lessing & Schulze, 2002;Malfroy, 2005;Nordentoft, Thomsen, & Wichmann-Hansen, 2013;Svinhufvud & Vehviläinen, 2013;Vilkinas, 2008). This paper focuses on undergraduate research students who are yet to embark on their research journey.…”