Novice doctoral supervision in South Africa: an autoethnographic approach

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Authors

Makoni, Patricia Lindelwa

Issue Date

2021-10-29

Type

Article

Language

en

Keywords

novice , doctoral supervision , university , autoethnography , South Africa , narrative analysis

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Abstract

This paper presents an autoethnographic, narrative analysis through self-reflection of my own personal transition from doctoral student to doctoral supervisor. An evaluation of the importance of the PhD in South Africa, the role of doctoral supervisors, and characteristics of good supervisors was undertaken; against which my personal experience was assessed. This paper was important in challenging whether institutions of higher learning in the country are adequately preparing young academics to become independent, effective doctoral supervisors. Some of my recommendations include the need for universities to come up with PhD supervision development programmes, as well as to consider alternative supervision models so as to facilitate mentorship of new doctoral supervisors, to ensure the attainment of PhD standards. The limitations of this paper are that, the researcher and subject, are one and the same person, hence there may be concerns of objectivity.

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Citation

Makoni, P. L. (2021). Novice doctoral supervision in South Africa: an autoethnographic approach. International Journal of Higher Education, 11 (2), 135-142. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v11n2p135

Publisher

Sciedu Press

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DOI

ISSN

1927-6052

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