Abstract
The PhD student supervision process is an important process, and the need for PhD students, who often form the backbone of the research community, to receive professional, inspiring and efficient supervision cannot be understated. This paper explores the benefits and values of Transactional Analysis (TA) as a way to further understand and work with PhD supervision. Using TA and the legitimacy ladder applied on PhD education, a modified model for increased understanding of the PhD student supervision process is presented, and is then related to empirical findings from a questionnaire among PhD students. The model shows for example the need for the supervisor to balance his or her role towards the PhD student, and suggests that professional PhD student supervision means moving from a Parent to Child relationship between the supervisor and the PhD student, towards a more mature Adult to Adult relationship.
Highlights
Supervision is often referred to as one of the most important factors for a well-functioning research communityHow to cite this paper: Thollander, P., Glad, W., & Rohdin, P. (2014)
The aim of this paper is to explore the use of Transactional Analysis (TA) in PhD student supervision and it is an attempt to enhance understanding of this complex and important process
The PhD students’ responses to the question “How often do you receive some form of guidance/supervision from your supervisor? Consider the spring semester 2010” were as follows, see Table 1
Summary
Supervision is often referred to as one of the most important factors for a well-functioning research communityHow to cite this paper: Thollander, P., Glad, W., & Rohdin, P. (2014). Their study presents a more comprehensive list of criteria for what constitutes a functioning research environment and these criteria should be interpreted as minimum criteria for a well-functioning post-graduate environment (Degerblad & Hagglund, 2001). The formal requirements for the delivery of education in the form of graduated doctors and producing papers and publications (Degerblad & Hagglund, 2001). It is in this context that graduate supervision is a part, i.e. a balance between the organizational, economic and social factors (Delamont et al, 1998; Watts, 2009)
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