Academic Cultures of Postgraduate Supervision

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the academic cultures in postgraduate supervision to identify types of supervisory approaches utilized by supervisors and to determine the cultural contexts that influence their practice. Our study is significant considering how much more nuanced and complex supervisors' responsibilities have become to accommodate postgraduates with varying backgrounds. We employed a qualitative-narrative inquiry to interview three senior supervisors at a Malaysian university. The interviews were then transcribed and analyzed using the holistic content model. Our findings contribute to the literature on supervisory practices that would benefit postgraduates' learning experiences in Malaysia and similar contexts. Keywords: Postgraduate supervision; Academic cultures; Supervisory practices. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.