Students’ experiences of the Cambridge supervision system: performance, pedagogy and power

Abstract

Drawing on the dramaturgical theory of Erving Goffman, this paper explores undergraduate students’ differing experiences of the Cambridge supervision system. Semi-structured interviews with fifteen undergraduate students were analysed to examine the dramaturgical demands of the supervision and students’ perceived abilities to meet these. Findings that suggest that female students and those from working-class backgrounds felt less able to deliver credible performances complicate the University’s celebratory account of the teaching system. The discussion draws out the relevance of these findings for scholarly literatures addressing student experiences of elite educational institutions, teaching practices in higher education and dramaturgical approaches to the exploration of power.