Completion mindsets and contexts in doctoral supervision

Pages66-80
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/09684881211198257
Published date27 January 2012
Date27 January 2012
AuthorPam Green,John Bowden
Subject MatterEducation
Completion mindsets and
contexts in doctoral supervision
Pam Green and John Bowden
Swinburne Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne,
Australia
Abstract
Purpose – Doctoral candidates are now located within a research context of performativity where the
push to successfully complete in a timely manner is central. The purpose of this paper is to develop a
model of completion mindset within a completion context to assist research students and supervisors.
Design/methodology/approach The research was undertaken using qualitative interviews
involving both PhD candidates and research supervisors, with transcripts analysed both manually
and using NVivo. The paper addresses two questions: How can supervisors create a supportive
completion context and help candidates to develop an effective completion mindset? What approach
does a candidate need to take and what environment does a supervisor need to create in order to
facilitate timely successful completion? These key questions are addressed through examples of
individual success stories as well as through the development of a series of supervisory models.
Findings – The need to complete “on time” often clashes with concerns for the quality of the final
outcomes. The paper shows, both from analysis of the data and theoretical reflection, that a
“completion mindset” is an essential element in the pursuit of doctoral success. It is argued that
“mindfulness” is part of this mindset, which needs to be located in a “completion context”.
Originality/value In presenting both theoretical and practical positions, as well as the
implications for quality, the paper contributes to the current debates surrounding research
supervision. The paper extends Green’s RIP (relational, intellectual, physical) model for supervisory
practice to include emotionality as an explicit aspect.
Keywords Doctorates, Students, Research work,Research supervision, Doctoralwork,
Completion mindsets,Completion contexts, Mindfulness
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Increasingly in many parts of the world, the pressure to complete successful doctoral
work in a timely manner is omnipresent. The pressure is not new as it has been a key
part of the higher education context for over a decade but the demands have become
more insistent. In Australia the Research Training Scheme (September, 2000)
significantly changed the higher education landscape so that universities found
themselves, for the first time, operating in a context of pressurised performativity
(Green, 2003). Performance in such a context is tied to funding (Lyotard, 1984).
Research supervisors and doctoral candidates have been under pressure to yield timely
completions since that time. Doctorates are to be completed within a maximum of four
years full-time equivalent. The advent of the Research Quality Framework (RQF)
(disbanded in 2007) and more recently the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)
(first round, no funding attached, was in 2010) mean that performativity is measured
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
The authors wish to thank Michelle Brocker and Lesa Beel for reading the draft paper and for
providing helpful feedback. Their thoughtful advice is appreciated.
QAE
20,1
66
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 20 No. 1, 2012
pp. 66-80
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684881211198257

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