Supervising theses: congruence between the expectations of supervisors and supervisees / Habibah Ashari and Md. Rizal Md. Yunus

Supervising theses at doctoral and master’s level is never easy. Complaints are often heard from both sides. Supervisors lament the fact that their students do not have the relevant skills to carry out research; students complain that supervisors are very difficult to contact and do not seem to provide much assistance. More often than not, supervisees expect the supervisors to guide them through every detail and aspect of the research writing process. The findings revealed that supervisors and supervisees have different conceptions of their roles and have different expectations of each other. The findings suggest that both parties need to clarify their expectations from the outset. This may minimize conflicts between the two parties

Personal Realities and the Apprenticeship of Supervising: My Tortuous Journey as a Supervisor

The supervisor-supervisee relationship is an important relationship between two individuals; a relationship often fraught with conflict and tension. A successful relationship usually culminates in the finished product – the completed thesis; whilst a failed relationship results in the delay of the thesis or the abandonment of the research work altogether. Whilst one is usually trained in the field that one is teaching, lecturers typically become supervisors without any formal training; it is assumed that if one has done research, one can certainly supervise a research enterprise. This reflective paper recounts a senior professor’s evolution as a supervisor of the masters’ and doctoral theses. In this, she asked pertinent questions regarding how she learned to be a supervisor, her actions as a supervisor, her expectations and requirements, and the challenges she faced as a supervisor. She became a supervisor through an apprenticeship of sorts – learning at the feet of her own supervisor. This apprenticeship only shows one side of the equation, the side the student sees, but not the backstage work that comes with it. She discovers that she learns a lot more about supervising thesis through the act of supervising, having conversations with colleagues, reading about the area, and most importantly, reflecting deeply into the enterprise. A conscious, critical, and mindful reflection of one’s actions as a supervisor can help one improve practice and better serve the student whose relationship to a supervisor is very critical to their success

Supervising Theses: Congruence between the Expectations of Supervisors and Supervisees

Supervising theses at doctoral and master’s level is never easy. Complaints are often heard from both sides. Supervisors lament the fact that their students do not have the relevant skills to carry out research; students complain that supervisors are very difficult to contact and do not seem to provide much assistance. More often than not, supervisees expect the supervisors to guide them through every detail and aspect of the research writing process. On the other hand, the supervisors expect the supervisees to have sufficient knowledge about doing research. This mismatch of expectations often leads to frustrations on both sides. This qualitative study reported here investigated the nature of the supervising process at a faculty of education at a large public university in Malaysia, in particular investigating the expectations and problems encountered during the supervising process. The findings revealed that supervisors and supervisees have different conceptions of their roles and have different expectations of each other. The findings suggest that both parties need to clarify their expectations from the outset. This may minimize conflicts between the two parties

Profiles of Deanship in Malaysian Public Universities

Today institutions of higher learning all around the globe are undergoing rapid transformation as they compete to survive in the ever changing global demands as a result of globalisation and internationalization. In such a scenario, there is a critical demand for heads of schools and faculties in higher education to establish a strong academic reputation and become sense makers of their organizations. The roles of deans as academic leaders encompass areas such as research, academia and administration. Realizing deans as pillars of academic scholarship, this study investigated the academic and scholarly leadership profiles of deans in Malaysian public universities. The study involved 348 randomly selected deans and senior academic administrative staff from nine public universities. Data was collected via questionnaire and semi structured interviews. The findings indicated that a majority of the respondents agreed that deans should have a good academic standing and research profile possessing at least a PhD. to act as a role model for the faculty staff. Besides that respondents indicated that research and publication should be one of the most important criteria in the selection of a dean. Results indicated that on the average, deans in Malaysia conducted at least one research project and wrote approximately 1.67 papers per year. Deans also highlighted that as academic leaders they had insufficient time to pursue their academic scholarship due to increased administrative duties; hence, they found it difficult to balance their leadership and scholarship responsibilities. More importantly this study indicated that deans as academic leaders left much to be desired