Table Of Contents
Postgraduate supervision
Issues
The meetings that a postgraduate research student has with his or her supervisor are a very special case of teacher-student interaction. Both the student and the supervisor have to work out what the nature of this crucial relationship is, what to expect from it, and how to get the best out of it; and when the communication fails the student's candidature is in peril. For students who arrive in Australia from China and other to undertake a higher degree by research (HDR), there can be a number of complicating factors, which their supervisors need to be aware of:- Some higher degree candidates come here under special arrangements which allow them to bypass the standard language-testing gate-keepers ( Coley 1999), and their spoken English language skills may be substantially inferior to their reading and writing skills.
- HDR students are more prone to arrive at odd times in the year; thus they may miss out on the standard orientation activities and the opportunities they provide to institute supportive social relations.
- Some are relatively mature-age students who occupy reasonably senior positions in their home institutions. This can mean that developing fluency in spoken English may be more difficult for them than it would be for younger students, and more threatening to their own self-image. Such seniority may also make it more difficult for them to establish a supportive social circle among their compatriots, most of whom are not only younger but also fully engaged in coursework classes and activities. Thus their social inputs may be limited to relatively infrequent departmental seminars; but such events typically focus on highly specialised topics, which may be well beyond the comprehension of a recently-arrived NNS student.
- HDR students from China are likely to be anticipating a much closer and more directive style of supervision than is the custom in Australia (cf. Spencer-Oatey (1997)). If this is not what they experience, it may be very difficult for them to understand why, and to have any idea of what to do about it.
Does your department run research seminars which provide an opportunity for research students and staff to get to know each other and exchange ideas?
Yes, it does, and I did go to them; but my listening skills were too limited for me to be able to follow presentations or discussions. That's really my problem: if someone spoke especially for me, and a bit slower, I could follow; but otherwise not.
— Margaret
Doing research, I need to read my papers by myself and: and maybe my supervisor – at that time every time I had a meeting with him, he didn't say much, and this made me feel ... shocked, or something. Because in China, the supervisor will talk a lot to you, and tell you how to do this, how to do that; but when I came here, I showed my supervisor what I'd been reading, and the summaries I'd made, and he just said, "okay, read more. See you next time"! So I didn't know what he was thinking, and it left me wondering what I should do, and feeling as though I knew nothing – especially because the research topic was new to me, and I needed time to get some background knowledge.
Did he give you reading lists, or any indication of what you should be reading?
No.
So you had to go out and find it all yourself?
Yes. Later on, one night, I thought to myself, it would have been better if he had given me a reading list. But I think the problem was that at the beginning we had a misunderstanding; because before I applied to here I had to write a research plan, and I think perhaps when he read my plan he thought I was already familiar with this area, and this may be why he took me on as a student. But in fact I entered the research as just a newcomer, as a new starter; and this was the difference between his supervision and my progress.
You didn't actually discuss the research plan with him when you first met him?
No. At the beginning my English was not good. That's the big difficulty I had when I first arrived – my speaking and listening were very poor. I think he is a very good researcher, and – like I said before – he had got a lot of funding, so he was very busy; and because he was so busy, when I first came to see him, because I talked a bit slowly, he ... [mimes showing signs of impatience], which made it even harder for me to talk! So, at the beginning of my study, we didn't have long meetings, and communication between us was not good.
— Margaret
Resources
For staff
Solutions to the most of these issues lie beyond the scope of this website. However, for some interesting initiatives in the area of academic skills preparation for postgraduate students and research into the interactions of students and supervisors, undertaken in recent years at the University of Adelaide, see Cadman (2000), Cargill (1998), Cargill (2000).
For students
One way to forestall to some degree at least the last of the above issues is to refer the student, even before their arrival in Australia, to the following online resource:
In particular you may want to refer them to the section on communication between student and supervisor 
.
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What month did you first arrive here?
October.
Not a good time – no orientation week and so forth ...
At that time, when I came here, what I got was, an administration staff [member] from our department took me around the 3rd and the 5th level which this department used, and tell me, "this person can help you with this", and "this is the printing room which you can use"; in fact all I remembered afterwards was the printing room which I can use, but I didn't understand what she told me about the people. I remembered the faces, but I didn't understand what the people would do for me; and I had no idea about the services the department or the University would provide for students.
— Margaret