Doctoral Supervisors at Birmingham City University are encouraged to attend a professional development programme (Communities of Practice in Doctoral Supervision or CoP). The CoP emanated from an earlier PERG Research Cluster Project. Supervisors complete a ‘practitioner inquiry’ during the CoP and this project aims to explore where supervisors chose to focus on issues relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in collaboration with the doctoral candidate. Doctoral supervisors will take part in an online survey and will be asked to share resources and strategies with regard to EDI. A focus group will take place with candidates in which they will be asked to review the resources and strategies that were collated from the survey.
Researchers
Research background
Policies have introduced diversity into doctoral education in terms of the types of degrees and modes of study, leading to the introduction of professional doctorates, part-time and distance learning. There is also a shift in candidate demographics through the rise in females, mature learners, those with disabilities or from minority ethic and/or racial groups or LGBTQ+, undertaking doctorates. Research suggests that universities need to respond to candidates’ diverse needs in addition to policy commitment statements and supervisors can support candidates through pedagogical actions including clarifying expectations around learning development support (e.g., literature searching). However, discussing issues related to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) can cause anxiety amongst candidates and not all supervisors will see this as their role.
Not all supervisors receive professional development, but at Birmingham City University (BCU) supervisors are encouraged to attend a professional development programme (Communities of Practice in Doctoral Supervision or CoP). Supervisors complete a ‘practitioner inquiry’ during the CoP to encourage positive scholarly activity which includes responding to EDI issues. Some supervisors will undertake the ‘practitioner inquiry’ in collaboration with the candidate such as reviewing a resource, journal article, tool or developing a research timeline and aligning with different forms of support. Whilst supervisors are encouraged to share their experiences via blogs in the scholarship literature, these are rarely written and this is potentially hidden scholarly activity which if shared could enhance doctoral candidates’ experiences, but also supporting the wider learning development community.
Research aims
The aims include:
- Commitment to a scholarly approach and research related to LD through a rapid literature review on EDI in doctoral supervision and primary data from doctoral supervisors who have undertaken the CoP Programme practitioner inquiries which focused on EDI in collaboration with a supervisee.
- Working alongside candidates by involving a current post-graduate candidate as a research assistant in undertaking the research project and convening a group of post-graduate candidates to discuss the case studies and resources.
- Making HE inclusive through emancipatory practice by creating the agreed resources and strategies from the collaborations into a portfolio.
- Adopting and sharing effective LD practice with the HE community through a portfolio of EDI case studies and resources
- Evaluating existing practice to extend the knowledge base to encourage critical self-reflection, ongoing learning and a commitment to professional development.
The study will aim to answer the following research question:
- How are doctoral supervisors and supervisees responding to EDI through collaborative practitioner inquiries?
Research methods
Doctoral supervisors will take part in an online survey and will be asked to share resources and strategies with regard to EDI. A focus group will take place with candidates in which they will be asked to review the resources and strategies that were collated from the survey.
Project outcomes
The anticipated outcomes are:
- Involving doctoral candidates in responses to EDI.
- Increasing the awareness and response to EDI in doctoral supervision by sharing positive case studies and strategies from collaborative inquiries.
- Giving doctoral supervisors practical ways in which they can support EDI as part of their practice.
- Sharing of resources and strategies to support learning development in doctoral supervision in the LD and HE community
The anticipated outputs of this project are:
- Sharing the findings of the project via ALDinHE through a blog post, a news item, a conference presentation, and a paper in the Learning Development in Higher Education Journal.
- Sharing the project via a BCU project webpage, a CSPACE Blog, a BCU T & L Conference presentation, a Supervising PhDs Blog post and a BERA Higher Education SIG presentation
- The case studies will be free and fully accessible to UK HEIs, LD community and the public.