ABSTRACT

The relationship between PhD candidate and supervisor influences successful candidate completion and helps maintain candidate satisfaction and mental health. We quantified potential mismatches between the PhD candidates’ and supervisors’ expectations as a potential mechanism that facilitates poor candidate experiences and research training outcomes based on a quantitative survey which including rank order and Likert responses. 114 PhD candidates and 52 supervisors in Australia ranked the importance of student attributes and outcomes at the beginning and end of candidature. In relation to specific attributes, supervisors indicated the level of guidance they expected to give the candidate, and candidates indicated the level of guidance they expected to receive. Candidates also report on whether different aspects of candidature influenced their mental well-being. Using rank correlation and multivariate regression statistics, we identified differences between candidates’ and supervisors’ perceived supervisor teaching responsibility and candidatures influence on mental well-being. Results indicate the majority of candidates were satisfied overall with their supervision, and find alignment of many expectations between both parties. Yet, candidates tended to have much higher expectations about achieving quantitative outcomes than supervisors. Supervisors believed they give more guidance to candidates than candidates perceive they received, and supervisors often only provided guidance when the candidate explicitly asked. Personal expectations and research progress significantly and negatively influenced over 50% of candidates’ mental well-being. Our results highlight the importance of candidates and supervisors explicitly communicating the responsibilities and expectations of the roles they play in helping candidates develop research skills. We provide four suggestions to supervisors that may be particularly effective at increasing communication, avoiding potential conflict and promoting candidate success and well-being.

摘要

博士候选人和导师之间的关系会影响候选人的成功完成，并有助于维持候选人的满意度和心理健康。我们根据包括排名顺序和李克特反应在内的定量调查，量化了博士候选人和导师期望之间的潜在不匹配，作为促进糟糕候选人体验和研究培训成果的潜在机制。澳大利亚的 114 名博士生和 52 名导师在候选人开始和结束时对学生属性和结果的重要性进行了排名。关于具体属性，主管指出了他们期望给予候选人的指导水平，而候选人表明了他们期望获得的指导水平。候选人还报告了候选人的不同方面是否影响了他们的心理健康。使用等级相关和多元回归统计，我们确定了候选人和主管之间的差异，他们认为主管教学责任和候选人对心理健康的影响。结果表明，大多数候选人对他们的监督总体上感到满意，并且发现双方之间的许多期望是一致的。然而，与主管相比，候选人对实现量化结果的期望往往更高。主管认为他们给候选人的指导比候选人认为他们收到的要多，而且主管通常只在候选人明确要求时才提供指导。个人期望和研究进展对超过 50% 的候选人的心理健康产生了显着和负面影响。我们的结果强调了候选人和主管明确传达他们在帮助候选人发展研究技能方面所扮演角色的责任和期望的重要性。我们向主管提供四项建议，这些建议可能在增加沟通、避免潜在冲突和促进候选人成功和幸福方面特别有效。