Supervisors’ competences from doctoral students’ perspectives–a systematic review

Abstract

This systematic review captures research on doctoral students’ perspectives of supervision. The aim was to capture research on aspects of importance to enhance professional development for supervisors in a global perspective, as well as describe the characteristics of the body of research. Five aspects of supervisors’ competences, which have previously been found to be important for successful supervision, were analysed: (1) domain knowledge, (2) research methodology, (3) pedagogical component, (4) relationships, and (5) functional aspects. Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Education Research Complete (ERC) were used to identify peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and 2019. In total 1,193 articles were identified. After a blind review using the Rayyan collaboration and research tool, 96 articles were included in this review. The results show that most research focuses on students’ experiences of their supervisory relationship, while supervisors’ domain and methodological knowledge are rarely studied. Implications for future research are to enhance the focus on supervisors’ domain and methodological knowledge. An implication for practice is that greater professional support be provided for supervisors to work with doctoral students from marginalised groups in relation to the context where the doctoral programme is situated.