Exploring How to Promote Access to and Success in Postgraduate Studies Through Supervision: A Conceptual Perspective

Abstract

The current ethos and decorum in postgraduate studies thrive on the assumption that postgraduate students do not require similar academic support as undergraduate students. As a reflective practitioner, I have observed that support given to students diminishes significantly based on their seniority within the university. Traditionally, supervisors emphasize student autonomy and self-regulated learning in postgraduate studies. This compromises the access to and success in postgraduate studies of many students. Against this backdrop and informed by constructivism and interpretivism, this conceptual paper explores how to promote access to and success in postgraduate studies through supervision. Being a conceptual study in nature, document analysis was used to obtain literature perspectives on postgraduate supervision, its conceptualization and how it can be designed to promote access to and success in postgraduate studies. A thematic and content analysis of relevant literature suggests that access to and success in postgraduate studies can be achieved through a humanistic approach to supervision, which is informed by the needs and context of the supervisee. I therefore call for a continuous dialogue between the supervisor and the supervisee for shared and mutually negotiated collective expectations. I recommend raising awareness among supervisors and supervisees on the literature confirmed qualifiers of quality supervision and qualities of a good supervisor. As a scholarly contribution towards ongoing research on postgraduate supervision, the study offers a new conceptual framework, firmly grounded in literature to guide and inform supervision and mediate the interactions between the supervisor and supervisee.