Prelims

Half Title Page

Supervising Doctoral Candidates

Series Title Page

Surviving and Thriving in Academia provides short, accessible books for navigating the many challenges, responsibilities and opportunities of academic careers. This series is particularly dedicated to supporting the professional journeys of early- and mid-career academics and doctoral students, but will present books of use to scholars at all stages in their careers. Books within this series draw on real-life examples from international scholars, offering practical advice and a supportive and encouraging tone throughout.

Series Editor: Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne, Australia

In this series

Achieving Academic Promotion

Edited by Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne & Jennifer Tatebe, University of Auckland

Getting the Most Out of Your Doctorate: The Importance of Supervision, Networking and Becoming a Global Academic

Edited by Mollie Dollinger, La Trobe University, Australia

Coaching and Mentoring for Academic Development

By Kay Guccione & Steve Hutchinson

Women Thriving in Academia

Edited by Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Academic Resilience: Personal Stories and Lessons Learnt From the COVID-19 Experience

Edited by Marian Mahat, Joanne Blannin, Elizer Jay de los Reyes, & Caroline Cohrssen

Academic Mobility and International Academics: Challenges and Opportunities

By Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh, La Trobe University, Australia

The Impactful Academic: Building a Research Career That Makes a Difference

By Wade Kelly, Monash University, Australia

Thriving in Academic Leadership

Edited by Sharmila Pixy Ferris and Kathleen Waldron

Title Page

Supervising Doctoral Candidates

Edited By

Chris Rolph

Nottingham Trent University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Editorial matter and selection © 2024 Chris Rolph.

Individual chapters © 2024 The Authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83797-051-3 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-048-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-050-6 (Epub)

About the Contributors

Ismail Ateya is the Director, Faculty Affairs and a Professor at the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences at Strathmore University, Kenya. His research interests are in software and database modelling of large information systems.

Yuhanis Mhd Bakri is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics at Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia. She currently is the Coordinator of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Unit in the Centre of Academic Development.

Laura Yvonne Bulk is a daughter, friend, cousin, tante; she is a Dutch settler to territory; she is a first-generation university student, a disabled scholar, and an occupational therapy educator. She is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia on (Musqueam) Territory. Her educational leadership focuses on promoting justice (right relationship) and building spaces of belonging as people from equity-denied groups and in distributed education.

Aparna Chakravorty is a Doctoral Research Scholar at the International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building (IIHEd) at O.P. Jindal Global University, India. Her doctoral research focuses on doctoral supervision in the Indian context. She is also a Teach for India Fellow and has extensive experience in early childhood care and education in the development sector.

Lucian Ciolan is a Professor of Education Policy and Research at University of Bucharest, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. He is the Vice Rector for Development Projects and Lifelong Learning and Secretary General (elect) of the European Educational Research Association. Lucian teaches at all levels up to doctorates, and his research involves influencing behaviour through learning and public policy.

Sherran Clarence is a Senior Lecturer in doctoral education and development at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom and a Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University in South Africa. Her research and practice is focused on creating representative, inclusive and research-informed environments for doctoral educators, candidates and supervisors, with the goal of widening academic success and transforming research culture in higher education.

Annie Gorgey is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Sultan Idris Education University in Perak, Malaysia. She holds a position as the Curriculum Development Coordinator at the Academic Development Centre and manages new programs for Accreditation.

Rucelle Hughes is a Lecturer in Education Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her particular interests lie in equity and quality education, student voice, critical theory perspectives, inclusive pedagogues and practices and teacher education.

Charity Meki Kombe, currently a Lecturer and Acting Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies at Mulungushi University in Zambia, transitioned into academia after a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa. With a PhD in Educational Management Law and Policy from UP, her research focuses on policy implementation and evaluation, as well as intervention outcomes. She displays a keen interest in higher education, particularly doctoral education, and is actively engaged in examining gender-related issues.

Rebekah Smith McGloin is the Director of Research Culture and Environment at Nottingham Trent University, UK. Rebekah's research interests focus on structures that support doctoral education, equality, diversity and inclusion, doctoral experience, researcher mobility, doctoral supervision, policy and practice in doctoral education.

Mousumi Mukherjee is an Associate Professor, Deputy Director and Doctoral Committee Chair of the International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building at O.P. Jindal Global University, India. She is also an Honorary Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She is a Fulbright alumna and the Vice President, Research and Partnerships Development of the STAR Scholars Network. Her research expertise is in the areas of education policy and leadership, and comparative and international education.

Melanie Nash is an Associate Professor at RMIT University's School of Education in Melbourne, Australia, teaching students across a wide range of programmes from undergraduate to doctoral levels. Her research focuses on exploring educational partnerships and advancing science and STEM education.

Maresi Nerad is the Founding Director of the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) and Professor of Higher Education in the Leadership in Higher Education Program, University of Washington, Seattle and an Affiliated Professor at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She has written and edited a number of books on doctoral education (latest 2022, Towards a Global Core Value System in Doctoral Education), publishes with current and former students, advises and coaches on a broad range of issues in doctoral education and in early research careers worldwide. She is currently investigating Taboos in Doctoral Education Across Countries.

Mary Omingo is a Lecturer of Finance at Strathmore University Business School and a pedagogy specialist with the Office of Faculty Affairs at Strathmore University, Kenya. Her main research areas are in teaching and learning in higher education.

Krishan Kumar Pandey is the Dean of the Office of Doctoral Studies and Professor in Jindal Global Business School at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India. His research interests include data mining, predictive analytics, renewable energy management, business analytics, sustainable development, net zero and circular economy. He has written four books, two book chapters, guided 15 PhD scholars and published 50 research papers in different areas of his specialisation.

Corin Parsons is a PhD student in the Geography Department of the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research investigates Anglo-European constructions of gender and ‘felinity’ through ‘anxious mythologies’ of cat domestication and examines the broader implications thereof for social and species difference.

Ivana Restović is an Assistant Professor of Natural Science and Head of the Teacher Education Department at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, Croatia. She is the Head of the Centre for Transdisciplinary Promotion of Sustainable Development and actively participates in the popularization of science.

Chris Rolph is an Associate Professor of Education Policy and Practice at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. He is the Director of Nottingham Institute of Education, teaches at all levels from foundation degrees to doctorates, and his research involves the policy-practice interface in education.

Damary Sikalieh is a Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Education at the United States International University-Africa, where she teaches, mentors and supervises both undergraduates and graduates. She is a founding member of the Association of Faculty Enrichment in Learning and Teaching (AFELT) which focuses on transformative teaching and learning in Higher Education.

Anamika Srivastava is associated with the International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building at O.P. Jindal Global University, India.

Martina van Heerden is a Senior Lecturer in the English for Educational Development programme at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her research focuses on the higher education sector, with a specific focus on feedback, academic literacy and academic development.

Mumbi Maria Wachira is an Accounting Lecturer at Strathmore University Business School and Associate Director of the Doctoral Academy at Strathmore University, Kenya. Her research focuses on the intersections between accounting practice, society and the environment.

Kirstin Wilmot is the Coordinator of the Higher Education Studies Doctoral Programme at Rhodes University, South Africa, where she also works as a Senior Lecturer in academic development. Her research interests lie in academic literacies and disciplinary knowledge, as well as doctoral education more broadly.

Matthew J. Young is the Manager of the Co(l)laboratory Research Hub programme at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. With a research background, his work centres on culture change in research, developing collaborations between researchers and non-academic partners to facilitate more inclusive and more impactful research.

Introduction

Chris Rolph

Nottingham Trent University, UK

This book has been written by 22 authors from 11 countries on 5 continents. It is deliberately and necessarily eclectic, seeking neither to generalise from specific examples nor to normalise to a meaningless average. Instead, it presents glimpses of the richness that abounds in doctoral supervision around the globe. Despite the diversity and difference, there are common threads – one being the notion of the journey made by doctoral candidates and the guiding nature of supervisors who walk alongside their protégés every step of the way. Almost every chapter picks up this recurring motif, along with the implications of stamina and struggle, dark valleys, monotonous plains and joyous mountaintop moments. The contents are arranged in an approximation of this journey, noting key milestones along the way.

Given the range of contexts and disciplines from which contributors speak there are diverse institutional regulations which apply to doctoral study, and consequently variations in the language that is used. Authors speak from personal experience but have generally avoided discussing location-specific structures and practices, and stuck to UK conventions for labelling: thesis (rather than dissertation) for the written work, and academic colleagues rather than faculty. We often use the generic term doctoral candidates in recognition of the variety of doctorates and types of student; the ambition is to be inclusive of full- and part-time studies, professional and distance doctorates, as well as the more traditional PhD. It will be for readers to decide if and how much the examples in these chapters can be applied to their own particular situations.

We hope that our readers will include early career academics: those colleagues who are finding their feet in the academic world and, in all likelihood, have only recently been awarded their own doctorate. A longstanding but unwritten assumption of the academy has been that the experience of being supervised through a doctorate is both necessary and sufficient for someone to take on doctoral candidates and become a supervisor themselves. In recent years universities have begun to pay more attention to the quality of teaching and learning, and the support their students are given, provoked to some degree by neoliberal quality metrics – but this has mainly revolved around the huge undergraduate population. The experiences of doctoral candidates, and the skills and qualities that are needed in their supervisors, have received much less attention, though the moral imperative is no less.

Even for skilled and experienced lecturers, the pedagogy of 1:1 (or 2:1) supervision may present new challenges, as they will need to be guide, mentor, expert, critic, coach and more as the doctoral study progresses. Our hope is that the chapters that follow will help academic colleagues to approach supervision with a recognition of the breadth of practice that exists, along with examples and suggestions that may promote and provoke their own professional development. This is not a handbook or definitive guide, but a collection of insights that are intended to be illustrative and supportive. The doctorate may be the highest accredited qualification one can achieve, but it does not represent an end to the learning process. On the contrary, taking the next step and supervising doctoral students can itself present a steep learning curve, and we hope this book will provide some support to those taking on that challenge.