In the United Kingdom (U.K.), all students who are studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree need to complete a piece of independent research in order to gain their "honours" (U.S. "honors") status. As a university faculty we have very specific ideas about the purpose of this research and the positive impact that we hope that it…

Doctoral study remains the most popular form of research degree globally. The student and supervisor relationship is an integral part of the postgraduate researcher (PGR) experience. Supervisory relationships can be complex and multi-faceted, with differing expectations from both supervisor and PGR. However, comparing different perspectives of the…

While supervision is often characterised as a relatively private relationship, we would argue it is strongly influenced by departmental, institutional, national and global factors. It is also intertwined with other academic work and life experiences -- with time playing an important role, not just as regards lifecourse but also changing…

This interview-based study with thirty doctoral supervisors in the UK focused on the diverse goals and intentions behind their supervisory activities, from which we derived a six-dimensional model of concepts of supervision. We explored how strongly each of these concepts featured in supervisors' intentions and whether this varied by discipline.…

As elsewhere across the globe, for the past two decades doctoral education in the UK has been in the throes of change. This article seeks to describe and analyse developments in 1) the national framework for doctoral education, 2) institutional structures, 3) doctoral programmes, 4) doctoral candidacy, 5) doctoral supervision and 6) doctoral…

The Teaching Qualitative Psychology Group (TQP) is a group of experienced academics supporting the sharing of best practice in the teaching and supervision of qualitative research methods in psychology. In this paper the group share their knowledge and practice suggestions with a specific focus on supporting academics who do not come from a…

An action research project involving 25 master's supervisors, from health and education disciplines, sought to enhance their understanding of dissertation supervision. Recognising that they were sometimes slightly unsure about their role, they sought to identify issues that contributed to this circumstance, and to develop supervisor preparation…

This paper looks at works of various authors on the supervision of doctoral students and their expectations. We aim through reading, experience and reflection to offer a logical framework that will aid in the better understanding of the process for those new to supervision. The two authors draw upon experience as new supervisors via the use of…

Most research into research supervision practice focuses on functional, collegial or problematic power-related experiences. Work developing the supervisory role concentrates on new supervisors, and on taught development and support programmes. Most literature on academics' professional learning concentrates on learning to be a university teacher…

Literature about doctoral supervision has concentrated on describing the ever lengthening lists of functions that must be carried out. This functional approach is necessary, but there has been little exploration of a different paradigm, a conceptual approach towards research supervision. This article, based on interviews with supervisors from a…

This digest focuses on international perspectives related to counseling supervision. It describes two strands in the history and understanding of supervision, one emerging from the United States and the other from Britain. The factor that distinguishes them is the location of counseling training. In the United States counselor training has largely…