Up close and personal: Reflections on our experience of supervising research candidates who are using personal reflective techniques

Challenges Confronting the Quality of Postgraduate Research Supervision and Its Effects on Time-to-Degree and Throughput Rates: A Case of a South African University

“…However, for research supervision to function as a tool for socialization "mentors need to be able to exercise tolerance and respect for differences while facilitating their protégés' construction of values that were the product of informed, rational interdependence" (Blunt and Conolly, 2006) Mentoring itself "has become the subject of academic study and widespread experimentation, especially in the USA" (Jowett and Stead, 1994: 20). Thomas (2007: 178) In some cases, even prior to the student's candidature, there may already be a flourishing and close professional and/or personal relationship between the student and the supervisor (Boucher and Smyth, 2004). Mentoring is a key element of graduate education (Rose, 2005) and it is the most effective way to transfer skills and knowledge quickly and inspire loyalty in new employees to cooperate in an organization (Abiddin, 2006).…”

Taking the plunge: Reflections on the decision to register for a doctorate

“…The challenge of learning (Vartuli, 1982), personal development, intellectual growth (Leonard, 1997;Leonard et al, 2005) and self-satisfaction and stimulation (Bolig, 1982) were all reasons to study at this level. My background, profile and motivations fit those described by Boucher and Smyth (2004) of their management research candidates.…”

“…Furthermore, knowing where the two roles began and ended helped minimise any conflict. A coping strategy for managing my roles was the setting personal boundaries between my working role and my student researcher role (Boucher & Smyth, 2004). The closeness of some supervisors to their research students which spills over into their social lives was not something that I sought or indeed could accommodate.…”

Negotiating the emotions of change: Research, restructuring and the doctoral student

“…This includes the research diary, the writing of a personal account, the writing and rewriting of text as well as the writing of this reflective account. The literature suggests other means by which novice researchers manage their emotions, such as group support (Kleinman and Copp 1993;Sutton and Schurman 1998;DeMarrais and Tisdale 2002;Mclaughlin 2003), anticipating the emotional level of the research (Sutton and Schurman 1998), enlisting the supervisor's support (Reason and Marshall 1987;McLaughlin 2003;Boucher and Smyth 2004) or even the support of a clinical psychology (Sutton and Schurman 1998;Rager 2005).…”

“…It is now widely acknowledged that the researcher's values, feelings, culture and history shape and defines the inquiry, and that research is often a personal matter (Wilkins 1993). This is even more so when research is undertaken by doctoral students, since it involves the students' personal development and is sometimes motivated by the students' need to take stock and make sense of their life and experiences so far (Reason and Marshall 1987;Boucher and Smyth 2004). Despite these developments, doctoral studies tend to emphasise the rational and technical competencies of producing research and neglect the emotional aspects of learning.…”