Using doctoral experience survey data to support developments in postgraduate supervision and support

Abstract

Provision of both high standards of thesis supervision and high quality research environments are required for doctoral candidates to flourish. An important component of ensuring quality provision of research resources is the soliciting of feedback from research students and the provision from research supervisors and institutions of timely and constructive responses to such feedback. In this manuscript we describe the use of locally developed survey instruments to elicit student feedback. We then demonstrate how actions taken in response to this student feedback can help establish a virtuous circle that enhances doctoral students' research experiences. We provide examples of changes to supervisory practice and resource allocation based on feedback and show the positive impact on subsequent student evaluations. While the examples included here are local, the issues considered and the methods and interventions developed are applicable to all institutions offering research degrees.