PhD supervision needs to shift as students progress, study finds
Swedish researchers discovered that doctoral students want different things from their supervisors depending on where they are in their studies—a finding that could reshape how universities train advisors and support early-career researchers. The insights suggest institutions need flexible supervision models rather than one-size-fits-all approaches to improve retention and research quality.
Originaltitel: Supervisory approaches valued at different stages of the doctoral journey: perspectives from students in education
This study identifies supervisory approaches that doctoral students value at the beginning, middle, and end of their doctoral journey. Fifteen students enrolled at two Swedish universities in the education field were interviewed. Through the lens of transformative learning, their perspectives on six areas of supervision, which have earlier been found to be important, were analysed: (1) functional guidance, (2) domain knowledge, (3) research methodology, (4) pedagogical component, (5) relationships, and (6) contextual competence. The results show that beginner doctoral students are initially impressed by their supervisors’ domain knowledge and uncertain about their methodological knowledge. In the middle phase, they have developed their own knowledge and value approaches to the supervisory relationship more neutrally. By the end, they recognise their supervisors’ knowledge gaps and limitations and value independence and autonomy. We argue that an understanding of these matters has important implications for supervision practices and for developing future independent researchers.