{"title":"Supervisor perspectives in STEM PhD supervision: a social realist analysis of current trends","authors":"Alan S. Cornell, W. Doorsamy, K. Padayachee","doi":"10.1080/23752696.2022.2130391","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The traditional academic pipeline has branched out significantly in recent years. The motivation of students pursuing higher degrees has also changed dramatically in response to wider socio-economic needs. Supervisors of PhD students are consequently faced with the need to adapt supervision practices to equip graduates with a broader suite of workplace competencies. However, PhD supervision is a practice located in the broader setting of a higher education system, conditioned by factors that change over time. In this paper we share the perspectives of a range of STEM supervisors from varying backgrounds on their conceptions of the purpose and goals of the PhD. Archer’s Social Realist theoretical framework was used in a comparative analysis between groups and across themes. It also enabled a novel visualisation in the form of a heat map, illustrating the mechanisms shaping supervision practices, highlighting the strong interplay between student agency and the development of particular dispositions.","PeriodicalId":43390,"journal":{"name":"Higher Education Pedagogies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Higher Education Pedagogies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23752696.2022.2130391","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT The traditional academic pipeline has branched out significantly in recent years. The motivation of students pursuing higher degrees has also changed dramatically in response to wider socio-economic needs. Supervisors of PhD students are consequently faced with the need to adapt supervision practices to equip graduates with a broader suite of workplace competencies. However, PhD supervision is a practice located in the broader setting of a higher education system, conditioned by factors that change over time. In this paper we share the perspectives of a range of STEM supervisors from varying backgrounds on their conceptions of the purpose and goals of the PhD. Archer’s Social Realist theoretical framework was used in a comparative analysis between groups and across themes. It also enabled a novel visualisation in the form of a heat map, illustrating the mechanisms shaping supervision practices, highlighting the strong interplay between student agency and the development of particular dispositions.
期刊介绍:
The aim of Higher Education Pedagogies is to identify, promote and publish excellence and innovations in the practice and theory of teaching and learning in and across all disciplines in higher education. The journal will provide an international forum for the sharing, dissemination and discussion of research, experience and perspectives across a wide range of teaching and learning issues. The journal will prove a valuable resource for individuals in the development and enhancement of their own practice, and for institutions in the promotion of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Higher Education Pedagogies will focus on disciplinary pedagogies and learning experiences; the higher education curriculum, i.e. what is taught and how it is developed and enhanced including both skills and knowledge; the delivery of the higher education curriculum; how it is taught and how students learn, and academic development; the role of teaching and learning in the development of academic careers and its place within the profession. Higher Education Pedagogies welcomes papers which are accessible to both specialist and generalist readers and are theoretically and empirically rigorous. Through advancing knowledge of, and practice in, teaching and learning, Higher Education Pedagogies will prove essential reading for all those who wish to stay informed of state-of-the-art teaching and learning developments in higher education. Higher Education Pedagogies is sponsored by the Higher Education Academy.