From Supervisee to Supervisor

1. From Supervisee to Supervisor Professor Julie Jomeen Faculty of Health and Social Care

2. My PhD • Full-time ESRC funded (2002-2005) • University of Leeds • Nuffield Institute for Health/School of Medicine • Mixed method study • Impact of choice of maternity care on psychological health outcomes and experiences during the antenatal and postnatal periods Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 2

3. Doing a PhD: My own experience Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 3

4. Getting a PhD Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 4

5. Supervisors • Starting a PhD is like entering an ‘ill defined limbo’ (Watson 1974) • What is it about a supervisors that helps you to negotiate that often lonely and undulating road? • Academic – ‘traumatic intellectual transition’ (Phillips and Pugh 2005) • Personal and emotional journey • Across the course a PhD we actually develop a new identity • Effective relationship is key • The right supervisor is essential • How many people had a say in choosing their supervisor? • What did I want from my supervisors? Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 5

6. What did Iwant from my supervisor/s? Interested even passionate Confidence: Am I a fraud? Direction and Clear Goals & Expectations Knowledge &Expertise Not supervisors agenda Support & Reassurance Reliability Time and availability Honesty Keep Ownership Space to grow Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 6

7. Asking a lot? • What kind of relationship is it • Often close and personal • Interpersonal rapport • Dependency? • Friendship? • Dynamic and changing • The supervisor also needs to understand the student • Sometimes you need your supervisor around a lot (especially at the beginning) • Sometimes that might feel oppressive • Need to marry up the type of person you are with the type of supervisor you choose/get • Advantages in it being someone you already know, respect and trust • Also danger in that! Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 7

8. Challenges • Managing your supervisors • Each supervisor was excellent but..... • Felt their element of the PhD was the most important – how did I reconcile that? • Under-estimation - I could have written 2 PhD’s! • My quantitative supervisor moved to Hong Kong in year 2! • Our aims change • Start PhD’s for a whole host of reasons • Enjoyed research, wanted to make a contribution to my field, build on my MA, personal credibility, exciting opportunity • Inevitably by the end we just ‘want to get it done’ • Good relationships and communication are the key to working it through at all levels Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 8

9. Aims and motivations of supervisors • Supervisors will undertake supervision for different reasons • Interested in developing research and researchers within the field • High quality research assistants • Offer supervision because it helps build a programme of research and expertise in a particular area • High calibre academics to supervise your work • Neither is right or wrong • Important as a student to know which type of student you are/were/want to be • Need to know what kind of supervisor you are/want to be • My supervisors encouraged me to be an autonomous researcher..which is a philosophy that I have carried through into my supervision • You need to own your PhD • If you don’t love at the beginning you sure won’t love it by the end! • Publish, publish, publish.... Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 9

10. Over to you • What do you expect from your supervisors? • What do you think your supervisors expect from you? • Whose responsibility is it to ensure that you are getting good supervision? • What is one key lesson will you take with you when you are a supervisor? Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 10

11. What students expect • Students expect to be supervised by a committed supervisor • Students expect supervisors to read their work (in advance) • Students expect their supervisors to be available • Students expect their supervisors to be friendly, open and supportive • Students expect their supervisors to be constructively critical • Students expect their supervisors to have a good knowledge of the research area • Students expect their supervisors to structure the tutorial so that it is relatively easy to exchange ideas • Students expect their supervisors to have sufficient interest in their research to put more information in the students' path • Students expect supervisors to be sufficiently involved in their success to help them get a good job at the end of it all! Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 11

12. What I now expect as a supervisor • Student to be motivated, enthusiastic, passionate and committed • Student to become increasingly independent but always maintain contact • Attend regular meetings with structure and purpose • Be able to accept constructive criticism • Student to be honest and realistic • Produce work for supervision in good time is they expect feedback • Engage in academic dialogue and debate about their subject/methodological choices & decisions • Accept advice • Publish • Learn from my students Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 12

13. What did I learn? • Emotional journey • Undulating – enthusiasm can be difficult to maintain - highs and scraping the bottom of the barrel lows • Isolating • Brick walls and the ‘getting nowhere syndrome’ • Frustration – new exciting avenues which you can’t follow because you must stay focused • Transfer of dependence – lessening need for the intensity of supervisor input • Transfer of expertise – you become the expert • Each supervisory relationship will be slightly different – one size doesn’t fit all • If the supervisor/supervisee relationship is a good one, then you want to achieve for them as well as yourself • Appreciate your supervisor – they give you a lot of time, energy and consideration! • It is a partnership – you are a team Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 13

14. Challenges • Students are not you • Each student is individual • Will have different needs both emotionally and academically • Responsibility • Yours...but students too • This is not your PhD • When does support end and doing it for them start • You are not your supervisors • Helps you define the type of supervisor you want to be Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 14