Joint Doctoral Supervision across Countries: Changes, Challenges and Considerations

Hoven, van den Eawh Elise; Connell, Julia

doi:10.1108/s2055-364120160000006021

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A general observation from the focus groups is that the novice researchers found it difficult to conceive of independent research collaboration beyond their relationships with their supervisors. In research discussing joint doctoral supervision, Van den Hoven and Connell (2016) show that the student-supervisor research collaboration is common but recommend that proper structures be available to help novice researchers operate independently. These findings have implications for planning research collaborations; while it could be advisable to support student independence, our findings indicate that the supervisor needs to be considered and, where possible, accommodated in the collaboration strategy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The academic field of ICT4D is concerned with the use of ICTs for international development (Walsham, 2017). In the ICT4D research context, the world is geographically divided into the northern polar (also known as the Global North) and the southern polar (Global South) (Diga & May, 2016;Färnman et al, 2016;Van den Hoven & Connell, 2016). The term Global North represents developed countries found in the continents of North America, Europe and Australia.…”

Section: Research Collaboration In Information and Communication Technologies For Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Novice researchers' perspectives on affordances in ICT4D research collaboration

Mwapwele

Biljon

2021

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Collaboration is fundamental to progress in the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research where interdisciplinary teams are involved in the requirements elicitation, design, implementation and evaluation of context-sensitive digital solutions. Research collaboration harbors the potential for knowledge exchange, improving research impact and human development; it is often a requirement in grant applications for funding. Despite the known benefits and incentives, there is evidence that research collaborations between African countries are lacking compared to those with and between other geographic regions. Furthermore, research collaboration has been studied as a variable but theorisation of the concept is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to theorize research collaboration as an object with affordances based on the perspective of novice researchers (master's, doctoral and postdoctoral students) in South Africa. The data capturing from a survey and focus groups with ICT4D novice researchers from different universities in South Africa produced 39 responses to be captured, transcribed and analyzed with Atlas.ti 8 using thematic analysis. The main contribution is the theorisation of research collaboration as an object with properties and then an investigation of the affordances offered to novice researchers together with the facilitating conditions and conversion factors influencing the actualisation of those affordances. The practical contribution is the insight gained into the perspectives of novice researchers as representatives of the future generation of research collaborators.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Collaboration In Information and Communication Technologies For Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novice researchers' perspectives on affordances in ICT4D research collaboration

Mwapwele

Biljon

2021

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They offer a unique opportunity for students to engage in interdisciplinary research, which can lead to joint publications and higher impact factors (Miller et al ., 2012). JDPs can be beneficial for institutions, for doctoral students and supervisors to enrich experience, to build research capacity, reputation as well as networks to share intellectual and social capital (van den hoven and Connell, 2016). Additionally, JDPs have been associated with benefits such as increased well-being and reduced strain for students, as they provide a structured approach to doctoral education (Acharya et al ., 2023).…”

Section: Literature Review: Joint Doctoral Programs In the Chinese Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Building capacity and status through transnational joint doctoral programs: a case study in China

Ruan,

2024

AEDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThrough a case study of a recently established but rapidly growing research-intensive university in China, this study explores how transnational joint doctoral programs are strategically instrumentalized to overcome policy restrictions on postgraduate degree accreditation. It utilizes the cumulative (dis)advantage theory as the analytical lens. This study investigates the innovative, bottom-up initiation of transnational higher education tailored to the development goals of the university and this region, thus providing an alternative perspective for the dominant top-down discourse on transnational higher education research in China.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative case study design that incorporates semi-structured interviews and document analysis to investigate the examined university’s joint doctoral programs.FindingsThe study examines how, through its transnational joint doctoral programs, the case university actively accumulated the advantages of recruiting excellent research students, cultivating the public’s confidence and deepening international collaboration. These advantages created a virtuous circle, which further reinforced each other and accelerated the university’s development. The disadvantages include power disparities between the case university and its partners, students’ study discontinuity because of temporal and spatial division and the challenges of co-supervision. Accordingly, the university implemented counterstrategies such as adopting a differentiated stance with varying partners, offering flexible administrative and management supports and aligning differently with various supervisors’ collaboration styles.Originality/valueThis study presents innovative institutional strategies in the Greater Bay Area of China to pursue rapid development and internationalization through transnational higher education programs. It also strives to illuminate the significant role of transnational higher education in facilitating experimental governance with Chinese characteristics.

show abstract

“…20,21,22,23 Social factors comprise productivity, association with a prominent co-author, cultural diversity, gender, communication and membership of a researcher's social network. 21,22,23,24,25 Environmental (also referred to as institutional) factors encompass higher-quality results, access to funding, the pooling of expertise for solving complex problems, top management support, disciplinary measures, detailed supervision policy and rewards. 19,21,22,23 Personal factors motivate a researcher to engage in collaborative activities, while environmental and social factors strengthen collaboration.…”

Section: Social Insɵtuɵonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research collaboration involves several capability inputs that a researcher ought to have; these include educating, writing, engagement and argumentation. 25,38,40,41 Delving deeper into the capabilities, the authors identify that issues such as history, culture, language and regional geography 8 affect researchers' writing as they require command of the language (grammar, spelling and sentence formulation) and research skills. The research skills may include the ability to command the chosen philosophy, methodology, data collection and analysis skills (including tools and techniques) and the command of ethics.…”

Section: The Capabilities Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research collaboration in asymmetric power relations: A study of postgraduate students’ views

Biljon¹,

Mwapwele²

2023

TDSA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Collaboration among researchers and across disciplinary, organisational and cultural boundaries is essential for addressing the increasingly complex challenges and opportunities facing international development. Despite the known advantages and various incentives, research collaboration within Africa (specifically within South Africa) is lacking. To better understand the reasons for this lack of research collaboration, this study explored collaboration between students and supervisors in an information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) postgraduate student project in South Africa. South Africa, a country with major social inequalities and asymmetric power relations, provides an appropriate context. The students’ perspectives provided a space for investigating the collaboration factors by unpacking the capability inputs according to Robeyns’ representation of personal capabilities. Data were captured from a survey and focus groups (FG) with students and supervisors in ICT4D from different universities in South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to identify and link the participants’ expectations of research collaboration with their perceptions of the challenges of such collaborations. The contribution is a conceptualisation of the main components representing research collaboration viewed in terms of personal capabilities, including the factors that influence collaboration.Transdisciplinarity contribution: Research collaboration is fundamental to promoting multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research. The novelty of this study lies in applying a theoretical lens from the field of human development to explore research collaboration in the transdisciplinary field of ICT4D. Given the research application context and the theoretical lens applied, the findings have implications for initiatives and policies on funding transdisciplinary research collaboration.

show abstract

Joint Doctoral Supervision across Countries: Changes, Challenges and Considerations

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Novice researchers' perspectives on affordances in ICT4D research collaboration

Novice researchers' perspectives on affordances in ICT4D research collaboration

Building capacity and status through transnational joint doctoral programs: a case study in China

Research collaboration in asymmetric power relations: A study of postgraduate students’ views

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About