A survey of doctoral supervisors in South Africa
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
UNISA Press
Abstract
South African universities receive a direct monetary reward for the number of
doctoral graduates produced. As a result there has been a steady increase in
numbers in recent years (from 977 in 2004 to 1 878 in 2012), with obvious
implications for doctoral supervision. Against this background a web-based
survey of 331 doctoral supervisors at South African universities was conducted
in 2011. The findings are discussed with reference to four themes: the burden of
numbers, the nature of the doctorate (PhD), screening and selection of doctoral candidates, and supervisory styles. The main conclusion is that many doctoral
supervisors in South Africa conduct their supervision under less-than-optimal
conditions. Increasing student numbers, demands for constant monitoring
and accountability, the pressure of throughput rates and efficient completion
together with moderate-to-poor quality students, have resulted in a situation
where doctoral supervision has become a challenging and highly stressful
undertaking.
Description
CITATION: Mouton, J., Boshoff, N. & James, M. 2015. A survey of doctoral supervisors in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(2):1-22, doi:10.20853/29-2-467.
The original publication is available at http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe
The original publication is available at http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe
Keywords
Graduate students -- Supervision of -- South Africa, Doctor of philosophy degree
Citation
Mouton, J., Boshoff, N. & James, M. 2015. A survey of doctoral supervisors in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(2):1-22, doi:10.20853/29-2-467.