Fighting for space in supervision: fantasies, fairytales, fictions and fallacies

Abstract

In higher education the supervision of graduate research students is an uncertain practice. When given the opportunity, supervisors and students ask what it means and how it should be done. In this paper, the author interprets the uncertain state of supervision affairs as an effect of many competing and contradictory social discourses that offer us more ways of making sense of supervision than in the past. Each discourse figures its Loyal Supervisor and Student, its ‘Proper’ Supervision, in particular ways. These are the multiple and contradictory fantasies, fairytales, fictions and fallacies of the title. First each discourse is described and then a close reading is given of some extracts of data from the author's research with Master's students and their supervisors to illustrate various discourses at work. Finally, there is discussion of which discourses are the most powerful at the present time and some implications, both dangers and fruitful possibilities, of the author's interpretation are suggested.