NEW BOOK: ‘Confident Supervisors – Creating Independent Researchers’

This is a guest post by Dr Susan Gasson, Adjunct Senior Lecturer at James Cook University, Australia. Susan’s research focuses on research education and development, research collaboration, and employability. Susan was leading editor on the open access online e-book Confident Supervision – Creating Independent Researchers

Guiding the development of the next generation of researchers requires the skills and expertise of a unique cohort of educators – higher degree research supervisors. Today’s supervisors are working in a Higher Education sector that continues to strive to grow the number of doctoral graduates enable their pathways to employability, and achieve new standards of inclusivity, diversity and equity. Supervisors are key to selecting the right students (called variously: HDR Students, Doctoral Candidates; Postgraduate Researchers), who need to demonstrate a record of academic and research performance. They must then support those students through a period of research education and development, culminating in a thesis that demonstrates the creation of new knowledge. Overtime the supervisor will guide the student through a transformative experience providing them with the skills and capacity for high levels of analytical and problem solving that are grounded in rigorous research methods and methodologies.

Supervisory practices have changed over time. Initially, best practice was based on the master-apprentice model common in the guilds of medieval times. The one-to-one relationship between the master and apprentice served the sector well for centuries.  But, changing contexts supporting a more connected, collaborative way of researching, have prompted evolution in supervisory practices. One example of this is the introduction of supervisory teams. The ‘Graduate Research Good Practice Principles’ from the Australian Council of Graduate Research, and the ‘Good Supervisory Practice Framework’ from the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKGCE), provide guidelines recommending supervisory teams rather than solo supervision. A team approach is intended to provide broader support and intellectual input, and ensure backup is available to the candidate should a supervisor become ill or unavailable.

Societal expectations of research graduates have also developed over time, again reflected in good practices guidelines. Some expectations are informed by the demand for a return on government investment in higher degree education. Some are informed by global and local demands for the creation of new knowledge. To meet the resulting demand for higher levels of research capacity, more impactful research outcomes, and transferable skills development for careers in business, government and the academy more sophisticated research education environments have developed. To realise these outcomes supervisors are encouraged to help students build personalised professional development plans. These plans involve the student working with the supervisors as well as researcher developers, language and learning advisors, career counsellors and broader research networks.

The parallel emergence of HDR cohorts and graduate schools have again required supervisors to augment their practices.  Some cohort models are initiated by supervisors in discussion with colleagues and involve larger supervisory teams working with bigger groups of students. Others have been created and informed by funding models, applied research clusters or disciplinary interests. For all, engagement in regular communities, peer-to-peer activities, and research symposia within the cohort framework ensures students have access to input from numerous formal and informal supervisors, access to diverse professional development opportunities and exposure to stimulating research education culture.

Supervisors’ professional development options have also emerged within universities and research centres in this context. Modes have included workshops, online modules and communities of practice, continue to emerge within universities and research centres. The current RSVP project in the United Kingdom (translating best practice in professional supervision to academic contexts) and the introduction of the ‘Associate Supervisor’ Award by UKCGE (in recognition of informal supervision) is further evidence of the changing doctoral education landscape, and the priority to consider supervisory practices in this context.

Scholarly work including journal articles and books have been written elaborating frameworks and strategies that inform and articulate good practice. While readily available to those in the global north, access to resources is more limited for those in the south. For this reason, we have ensured that our recent book project (with colleagues Jillian Blacker, Ian Stoodley, Abbe Winter and Christine Bruce) – Confident Supervisors: Creating Independent Researchers – is open access and available on the Pressbook platform. Our book encourages supervisors to work more closely with other service providers around the university to realise a more holistic approach to supporting research students.

The idea for the book emerged through discussions with numerous supervisors at universities in Australia and around the world. Particularly supervisors in less research-intensive universities in Australia and in developing nations requested resources to support their HDR supervisory communities. As the editors began discussions, we became aware of the support available for the development of open access books from our library.  A few tentative emails to colleagues told us that there were many scholars and service providers who were keen to share their expertise to advance supervisory practices around the world. They shared our passion for the development of a free open access resource.

The title ‘Confident Supervision’ was prompted by many examples of new supervisors, and experienced supervisory teams facing new challenges, asking for help because they lacked confidence in how to supervise. We also wished to emphasise that supervisory work is now a team effort, with individuals no longer required to manage difficult situations alone. The subtitle ‘Creating Independent Researchers’ emerged from thinking about national qualifications frameworks and university graduate outcomes statements that spell out quality standards and expectations. We hoped that creating independent researchers was a good shorthand for the scope of work facing supervisors in preparing the next generation of graduates.    

Offering online and downloadable reading options, the book includes student perspectives, video introductions to each of 13 Chapters and key resources and links aimed at providing readily applicable practices and approaches to extend individuals’ supervisor practices. Confident Supervisors is intended to be both a textbook and a professional development resource for both Higher Degree Research supervisors and for researcher developers involved in providing workshops and resources to support research supervisors in their practice. 

The chapters of the book are authored by experienced supervisors, researcher developers, librarians, a career expert and psychologist. Experienced supervisors share unique expertise and experience ranging from approaches to supervision, supervising students from diverse backgrounds and contexts and realising research integrity and impact. Other experts draw from their scholarship and practical experience to explain how we can support HDR candidates to engage well with writing ecologies and manage research cycles. Clear and accessible advice is provided to supervisors on having career conversations with students, managing early interventions that support progress and building information literacy.

The book is designed to stimulate individual supervisors in the development of a range of contemporary practices as well as offering guiding prompts to support community of practice conversations regarding supervision. Since its launch six months ago more than 2500 individuals from more than 60 countries have read sections of the book in its online format. In response to reader requests, a downloadable version of the book has allowed an audience of more than 200 users in countries, or areas with poor internet and electricity supplies to use the book.

Feedback from users of the book has included a lot of genuine surprise and thanks for the provision of an open access resource. Some are referencing chapters of the book as needed to inform their supervisory practices, others are using resources provided at the end of each chapter, in delivery of workshops and supervisory events at their universities or research centres. It has also helped those looking to track down researcher’s writing in the supervisory space, with many authors sharing links to their scholarly work where it has informed their chapters.

After presenting at the Australia-based Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference in April 2024, the editors of this book appreciated that there is great potential for a second edition. The structured 3,500-word chapter format holds appeal for supervisors and scholars who report there is more to be shared. A second edition is therefore in planning.

If you have a topic you would like to contribute to the second edition of the book please let us know. Proposed book sections for the second edition are:

• Supervising and the changing face of the HDR cohort
• Supervisory practices for different phases of candidature
• Supervising diverse methods and methodologies
• Technologically informed supervision 

We welcome your perspectives and suggestions. Please join us in growing the potential for ‘confident supervisors to create independent collaborative researchers’.