Focus groups report: Industry Supervisors

Dr Hang Li RSVP Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of York, UK

Dr Hang Li is a Postdoctoral Research Associate for RSVP. Her role focuses on the analysis of RSVP focus group data, and supporting the dissemination of RSVP qualitative findings.

Dr Lucy Atkinson Researcher, University of York, UK

Dr Lucy Atkinson is a Researcher at the University of York. With a background in politics and international development, Lucy's research has focused on teachers and pedagogy, wellbeing of separated young people, as well as youth voice and the environment.

Dr Karen Clegg RSVP Co-PI and Director, and Reader in Doctoral Education and Practice, School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of York, UK

Karen is a Reader in Doctoral Education in the School for Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York and Co-PI/Director of the Next Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP), a £4.6million, Research England funded project designed to transform the practice and culture of research supervision. An experienced Researcher Developer and senior manager, Karen has created and implemented policy, and has designed and delivered award winning accredited programmes for research students, fellows and academic staff. Her research and publication portfolio includes assessment, reflective practice and doctoral education. She is an elected executive member of several professional bodies, a trained coach and an accomplished conference speaker.

RSVP has four key areas of exploration:

• Celebrate the contributions made to supervision practice by different stakeholders 

• Explore, challenge and problematise the nature of supervision as it relates to different disciplines and contexts

• Critically examine how quality and consistency of supervision is articulated, recognised and rewarded

• Learn from each other and identify what more is needed to elevate the status of supervision practice
  

To better understand the supervisor experience, and to ensure that the professional development we have developed and piloted is grounded in the supervisor experience, we have conducted a series of focus groups with key stakeholders. These include reflections from academic research supervisors based at the RSVP consortium partners,  an insight into the challenges and opportunities faced by Deans and Directors of Doctoral Schools and a commissioned ‘Deep Dive’ report into the PGR experience of supervision based on qualitative responses given across 5 years of the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). 

This report presents an unprecedented exploration of the perspective of 43 industry-based supervisors from STEM, Arts, Heritage, and Medical fields. It explores industry supervisors’ understanding of their supervisory role, their experiences of collaborative doctoral supervision, and the skills and professional development that support their supervisory practice. By foregrounding the voices of industry supervisors, the findings contribute to an understanding of the evolving composition of doctoral supervision teams and the opportunities and tensions associated with academic-industry collaborative supervision. 

This report also complements forthcoming findings from the UK Research Supervision Survey 2024 on team supervision.