Strategies and tactics in the supervision of UK social science PhD students

Abstract

While there is a literature on PhD supervision, little research has been undertaken upon the intricacies of the actual relationship between the PhD student and supervisor. One particular facet of this relationship was examined, namely the strategies supervisors choose to implement when supervising social science students at this level. Two general overarching strategies were found to exist in this context: a relatively unstructured approach, giving students a large degree of intellectual freedom, and a much more structured approach within which close operational control was maintained by the supervisor. The selection and implementation of these two strategies, and associated tactics, were found to be more effective in cases where supervisors were able to balance involvement with their students with a degree of professional detachment. Effective supervision was also found to be correlated with the possession of certain skills, including the ability to foresee the general direction of the student's research, to communicate clearly with the student about the supervisory relationship, and to facilitate that relationship intellectually and emotionally. Such skills were in turn found to hinge upon the possession of particular qualities, such as flexibility and sensitivity.