Supervisor-student relationship : a leadership model for enhancing postgraduate research at a university of technology

[摘要] English: This study was undertaken against the backdrop and importance of leadership in the postgraduate supervision environment in universities of technology (UoTs) in South Africa. Although many higher education institutions (HEIs) realise the importance of postgraduate supervision and research, universities need to implement effective leadership strategies in order to address external competitiveness, challenges and complexities in the learning and teaching environment. The literature review provided guidelines for HEIs in terms of postgraduate supervision in a complex and challenging academic learning and teaching environment. These institutions are governed by law and have experienced numerous changes in policies and procedures, coupled with funding pressures, a demand for higher pass rates, more enrolments and outputs, and improved communication processes, as well as the challenge of managing the postgraduate student-supervisor relationship within a challenging South African higher education context. The new higher education dispensation brought on by the merger and incorporation process that occurred some years ago, whereby former technikons became universities of technology, challenges South African HEIs to revisit their in-house postgraduate supervision environment within a relatively new and young research milieu so as to attend effectively to a more diverse adult student population. The purpose of this study was to develop a model for supervisory leadership in the postgraduate supervision relationship and research environment within the Faculty of Management Sciences of a South African UoT. This research was based on a pragmatic approach to gain insight into the views and experiences of postgraduate supervisors in terms of leadership in the supervision environment. A mixed-method design was used, incorporating a developmental phase, a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, which combined qualitative and quantitative research methods that provided valuable data collected from respondents from four UoTs in South Africa. The significance of the study lies in the development of a leadership model for postgraduate supervisors in the supervision environment in South African UoTs. The study incorporated the views and perceptions of respondents within the higher education context in South Africa. The model is not only based on sound theoretical principles (as discussed in the literature review), but also provides a practical model that could be used by novice postgraduate supervisors within the developing research environment, and affords an opportunity to enhance the research capacity of UoTs in South Africa. The study could be applicable to other UoTs in South Africa.

[发布机构] University of the Free State