The Scholarship of Graduate Supervision

Effective Practices

• Read Best Practices at Western University (.pdf). This is a guide for supervisor-student conversations regarding expectations by Carol Benyon, Centre for Teaching and Learning.
• Read Doctoral Mentorship Practices in Canadian Political Science (.pdf) by L. Berdahl, J. Malloy & L. Young (2022). This study of political science faculty from political science departments offering PhD programs in the English language finds that graduate supervision is changing over time, with mentorship practices becoming both more common and more varied.
• Read Educational Development for Quality Graduate Supervision (.pdf) by H. Alharbi and M. Jacobsen (2016). This article focuses on the role of graduate supervisors, contributing factors to successful graduate supervision experiences along with different types of support for successful supervision.
• Read Four Supervisory Mentoring Practices that Support Online Doctoral Students’ Academic Writing (.pdf) by S. Becker, M. Jacobsen & S. Friesen (2025). This article examines how mentoring practices support online doctoral students’ academic writing, building on prior research that identified five enabling factors of effective online doctoral supervision, with a focus on cultivating a collaborative online community of support for academic writing.
• Read A Good Supervisor: Ten Facts of Caring Supervision (.pdf) by K. Maatta (2015). This article describes the elements of caring supervision in ten facts that illustrate the multidimensional nature of a supervision relationship.
• Read The Role of Intercultural Competence (.pdf) on Graduate Supervisor-Supervisee Relationship and Well-Being by E. Amery, K. Koh, Z. Caceres & B. Paris (2022). This article discusses the importance of developing intercultural competence, how it improves the supervisory relationship and contributes to collective well-being.
• Read Spotlight on Best Graduate Supervision Practices from University Affairs (.pdf) also available in French. S. Fiset, E. Bennett, J. Brown, N. Bhiry, M. Zulkernine, S. Fraser, L-J. K. van den Scott and A-M. Tremblay talk about their approaches to supervision.

Supervision as Pedagogy

• Read Building a Framework of a Supportive Pedagogical Culture for Teaching and Pedagogical Development in Higher Education (.pdf). by Myllykoski-Laine, S., Postareff, L., Murtonen, M., and Vilppu, H (2022). The study proposes a framework of supportive elements of pedagogical culture that should be acknowledged when promoting the development of teaching in university communities. Based on the findings, it is especially important to establish a culture of sharing and to promote the value of teaching through various cultural elements.
• Read Professional Learning and Development Frameworks for Postdoctoral Scholars (.pdf). by Nowell, L., Dhingra, S., Kenny, N., Jacobsen, M., and Pexman, P (2021). Many postdoctoral scholars are seeking professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities to prepare for diverse careers, roles and responsibilities. This paper aims to develop an evidence-informed framework for PLD of postdoctoral scholars that speaks to these changing career paths.
• Read Supervision As Pedagogy: Attending to Its Essential Instructional and Learning Processes (.pdf) by Rodney Goodyer. This article discusses the four learning strategies of modeling, feedback, direct instruction, and self-directed learning through reflective practice, arguing that their effects are mediated by the quality of the supervisory relationship.
• Read The Pedagogy of 'Good' PhD Supervision (.pdf). This is a national cross-disciplinary investigation of PhD supervision by Mark Sinclair.
• Read Towards a Pedagogy of Supervision in the Technology Disciplines (.pdf) by C. Bruce with support for the original work provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The article describes a pedagogy of higher degree research supervision for the technology disciplines and has has investigated technology supervisors’ thinking around pedagogy in the higher degree research context.

Student Perspectives

• Read Examining Canadian Graduate Students' Views on Ideal Supervision: A Qualitative Coding Approach (.pdf) by M. Jacobsen, S. Johnston, T. Butler, A. Paquette & M. Baragar (2025). The article describes the creation and application of a qualitative coding framework—a systematic method for categorizing and coding textual data—to synthesize 824 student responses to an open-ended survey question.

Supervision and Power

• Read Addressing Problems of Power and Supervision in Field Placements (.pdf) by Maurer, N. and Seibel, R. This article examines power issues in relation to supervision of law students.
• Read Professionally Packaging Your Power in the Supervisory Relationship (.pdf) by Delano, F. and Shah, J. This article looks at the dynamic of power in the supervisory relationship and discusses the way power is structured in the relationship and the impact it has on both parties.