https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar Almlöv & Ann Grubbström (2023) ‘Challenging from the start’: novice doctoral co-supervisors’ experiences of supervision culture and practice en-us 2023-06-30 20:31:57 UTC 2025-09-25 17:15:21 UTC hello@padlet.com elainegourlay https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2636126046 What resonates with you from this paper, or troubles you? How might it influence your approaches to supervisor development or your own supervisory practice?

There are no right or wrong answers - this is a space to collectively ponder and reflect. We expect and welcome a variety of opinions.]]> 2023-06-30 20:40:33 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2636126046 kayguccione https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2642729217 "The relations between the supervision
culture and practice seemed to interact and fit into each other like two cogwheels,
which is illustrated in Figure 1. Furthermore, the figure shows that the novice co-super-
visor has a ‘dual challenge’: first, trying to figure out what co-supervision practice is
without knowing what the expectations are and, second, trying to understand a supervision culture that is not always open and supportive."

This resonates with how I am trying to create more open cultures of supervision by opening out all 'supervisor development' activities to researchers who are not yet taking on 'official' supervision responsibilities. Recognising the value of Associate Supervision, learning to supervise, and taking on the identity of a supervisor, can start well before the pressure is on.


]]> 2023-07-11 13:14:06 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2642729217 EdgeOfChaos https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2642874612 "Novices should raise questions about what is expected from them before accepting the invitation to be a co-supervisor".  This prompted me to think about the importance of "contracting" - such as that used in mentoring or coaching and the creation of guidance to support co-supervisors.  

Also under the theme of competition - how women can be used to present a façade of equality values - this is shocking but unfortunately not a surprising behaviour. ]]> 2023-07-11 18:25:24 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2642874612 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643311339 As an early career researcher, without any formal supervision experience, I was taken aback by the findings of this paper. A few questions came up when I was reading the paper.

1) The findings portrayed the novice supervisors as having little to no agency in supervising and working relationship with the main supervisor. I find this troubling and frightening. I would be interested to know what questions were asked in the focus groups and interviews, and whether the findings only focused on certain aspects of the supervision practices.

2) To what extent do these findings apply to the main supervisors? For example, I assume that all the supervision practices and some of the challenges discussed (eg., include a female to tick the gender inclusion box) are applicable to the main supervisor. 

3) Also curious if there are any disciplinary differences in terms of novice supervision.



]]> 2023-07-12 05:25:15 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643311339 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643421943 First, I had to recover from the trauma of the abstract containing the phrase "the analysis proves".
I wonder the extent to which some of these issues are particular to the institutional/country context. Differences between lab-based and non-lab-based doctorates would seem to be an important issue.
What did resonate for me in the UK context is the 'detached' nature of doctoral supervision and its liminality. Is the doctorate the pinnacle of being taught (UG, PGT then PGR) or the first step in becoming a researcher? What are the implications for supervision? Are we still in that 'secret garden of supervision' with the problems that creates for someone (a co-supervisor) trying to join in?]]> 2023-07-12 08:08:29 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643421943 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643493714 I found this paper really interesting - probably since I am not in Europe. Some of it resonates - novice supervisors not knowing exactly what is expected of them. In my context, I've found that only some co-supervisors make their expectations clear to novice supervisors. 
I also wondered whether, in instances where the PhD students are not solely funded through projects, would there still be competition?  ]]> 2023-07-12 10:14:04 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643493714 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643500863 A couple of initial thoughts:

1) This is another paper discussing that there is an issue with research 'culture' but no suggestions on how to improve it.

2) Where there are suggestions, responsibility falls, yet again, to the novice/the learner/the junior employee to take responsibility and 'ask for clarification'. Where is the responsibility for the senior colleagues to make these changes or lead by example?

3) I'm disappointed that the authors took the time to identify the disciplinary areas in the earlier part of the paper but didn't come back to this in the discussion. It would have been interesting to see where disciplinary differences lay and if there is any difference in the three themes of supervision 'culture' between disciplines

4) It's good to note that there is a requirement of law in Sweden to complete a 3 week supervision course, but it would be good to know what is included within that course and how it compares to practices in other countries.]]> 2023-07-12 10:29:20 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643500863 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643509921 The findings do (unfortunately) resonate with what I've seen around me too. Many new supervisors seem to be thrown in the deep end with minimal guidance. Having completed a PhD isn't really sufficient experience to be a supervisor!

The rivalry between supervisors on the same panel is troubling - interesting to think about how this fits with talk about PGRs developing teamwork skills as a graduate attribute (perhaps in terms of learning to work in uncomfortable and hierarchical teams?).]]> 2023-07-12 10:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643509921 https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643525335 There is a lot of literature on the power imbalance between supervisor and supervisee. Perhaps, there is a hidden power imbalance between the supervisor and co-supervisor which needs to be addressed?
Natasha Kitano]]> 2023-07-12 11:20:10 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643525335 researcherdevelopment https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643543616 Discussion questions:

1.How can we utilise some of the experiences gathered in this paper in our supervisor development provision to help co-supervisors support doctoral researchers?

2.How might this feed into the development of our future experienced doctoral supervisors?

]]> 2023-07-12 12:03:19 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643543616 researcherdevelopment https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643561240 Dr Cally Guerin, Researcher Development at ANU kindly provided the above form which is used to define expectations of the roles of different members of the supervisory panel. Thanks Cally! :)]]> 2023-07-12 12:41:22 UTC https://padlet.com/supervisordevelopmentreadinggroupjuly2023/5jaiydjeahdlt2ar/wish/2643561240