Interdisciplinary doctoral research supervision: A scoping review

Abstract

This scoping literature review examines the topic of interdisciplinary doctoral research supervision. Interdisciplinary doctoral research programs are expanding in response to encouragement from funding agencies and enthusiasm from faculty and students. In an acknowledgement that the search for creative and innovative solutions to complex problems is best addressed through interdisciplinary collaborations, research-intensive universities are increasingly encouraging interdisciplinary projects and programs. The expansion of interdisciplinary research to the context of doctoral research may impact several core components of the doctorate: the enactment of the student–supervisor relationship, the process of forming and working with a supervisory committee, and the process and outcomes of doctoral research. In order to ensure that interdisciplinary doctoral supervision occurs in a positive and effective way, it is necessary to understand the distinct needs and challenges of interdisciplinary students and their supervisors, through scholarship about this phenomenon.

Learning relations of knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge integration (KI) of doctoral students during online interdisciplinary training: an exploratory study

“…First, KI does not come easily. It is worth mentioning that the roles of mentors in the interdisciplinary exploration of doctoral students are not fully understood (Lindvig, 2018;Lyall et al, 2015;Vanstone et al, 2013). Therefore, we suggest that educators actively try to enhance KI relations.…”

“…Besides this, the mentorship including student-supervisor and student-student mentoring plays an important role in interdisciplinary learning and engagement of students (Ryser et al, 2009;Vanstone et al, 2013). Moreover, it has been suggested that participants from neighbouring disciplinary fields might integrate more knowledge compared to participants from distant disciplinary fields (Porter & Rafols, 2009).…”

“…Interdisciplinarity, broadly defined as interactions between different bodies of knowledge, is claimed as essential in addressing complex problems our society faces (Huutoniemi, Klein, Bruun, & Hukkinen, 2010;National Science Foundation [NSF], 2011). Over the past years, a continuing emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary research, and interdisciplinary doctoral programmes in higher education in particular (Vanstone et al, 2013). In these programmes, doctoral students are provided with informal and formal interdisciplinary learning opportunities such as networking in interdisciplinary consortia, engaging with other disciplines, collaborating in interdisciplinary academic activities (grant applying, teaching, researching, publishing, etc.…”

Assembling the Ideal Doctoral Dissertation Committee in Engineering Education

“…Co-advisors may be needed to provide the additional content expertise or the creation of an interdisciplinary committee. For a review of the work on interdisciplinary graduate supervision, see [9] . Where a number of studies have investigated the role of the graduate advisor for interdisciplinary students [9][10][11] , few investigate the role of the graduate student's committee.…”

“…For a review of the work on interdisciplinary graduate supervision, see [9] . Where a number of studies have investigated the role of the graduate advisor for interdisciplinary students [9][10][11] , few investigate the role of the graduate student's committee. A graduate student's committee generally comprises of 4-5 members who "work with them on developing a program plan, preparing and taking comprehensive exams, planning and executing a study, and completing the dissertation" [12] .…”