Lessons from Postgraduate Supervision in Two African Universities: An Autoethnographic Account

Olawande Daramola

doi:10.3390/educsci11070345

Abstract

This paper presents an evocative autoethnographic account of my postgraduate supervision experience in two African institutions while dealing mainly with students in the computing disciplines of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology. In this paper, the context of the postgraduate supervision, and the lessons learnt are presented based on personal reflection, students’ feedback, and retrospective analysis on my activities as an absorbed participant in the supervision process. The reflection of my supervision process offers vital lessons for all supervisors in the developing country context who are torn between the requirements for the student to do quality work and get published in top journals, and the challenges in their operational environment and students’ lives. The study also recommends some good practices that could help supervisors that are operating in similar contexts to mine.

Highlights

In many African institutions, sound academic scholarship is assessed based on the quality of academic publications, volume and quality of publications, the regularity of publishing, the record of postgraduate supervisions, grant awards, and service to the academic community in general [1,2]
I will present an overview of autoethnography as a qualitative practice, and a review of previous cases where autoethnography was used to report on the culture of supervision in the African context
It allows the use of hindsight and retrospection to write about past experiences that relates to a particular culture [8]

Summary

Introduction

In many African institutions, sound academic scholarship is assessed based on the quality of academic publications, volume and quality of publications, the regularity of publishing, the record of postgraduate supervisions, grant awards, and service to the academic community in general [1,2]. For those in the professorial cadre, postgraduate supervision plays a big part in attaining these achievements. Autoethnography as a concept borrows from the principles of autobiography and ethnography It allows the use of hindsight and retrospection to write about past experiences (autobiography) that relates to a particular culture (ethnography) [8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion