{"id":180,"date":"2024-09-10T09:26:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T08:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/?p=180"},"modified":"2024-09-26T12:43:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T11:43:57","slug":"the-student-supervisor-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/2024\/09\/10\/the-student-supervisor-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"The Student-Supervisor Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A common query for students at the Wellbeing and Accessible Learning Drop-in is what should be expected from their Supervisor.&nbsp; This relates particularly to PGR students, although there have been occasions when a Dissertation Supervisor is the subject of discussion.&nbsp; For a PGR student, the Primary Supervisor is the main connection with the university.&nbsp; Any breakdown in communication can have a big impact, both practically and emotionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students speak to us when they feel overwhelmed, isolated or unsure what the next steps are in their research.&nbsp; There can be academic disagreements, concerns about feedback, personality clashes or life events that can influence the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students often tell us that they don\u2019t like making a fuss, or they are worried about asserting themselves with a figure of authority who can influence their academic success.&nbsp; Some are just unsure what is within their rights to ask for with regards to support.&nbsp; Others believe it will reflect badly on them if they express difficulties or inform Supervisors that they have a condition or life event that is impacting their progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things to consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Being a PhD student is one role out of many that could be placed upon you.&nbsp; As a human being, there may be other roles such as \u2018carer\u2019, \u2018parent\u2019, etc, that will also require time and energy.&nbsp; It is unrealistic to expect that completing a PhD will protect you from life events or illnesses.&nbsp; In a work situation, this would likely lead to requesting time off.&nbsp; Why would study be different?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is important to start off on the right foot.&nbsp; This means being involved in selecting and meeting your second Supervisor.&nbsp; It also means making the most of the opportunity to create a dynamic where both you and your supervisor know the boundaries and responsibilities of the other.&nbsp; This includes when to expect a response (for example, only during working hours) and the fact that there will be no recriminations if you have not completed a task due to needing an answer out of hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is ok to ask for a deadline.&nbsp; If you are requesting feedback, you can ask when you can expect to receive it.&nbsp; Your Supervisor\u2019s response may open up a negotiation on timelines, but knowing how long it will take will ease uncertainty and empower you to get in touch if the deadline has passed.&nbsp; It is ok to send more than one email if you have not heard back from them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be direct in asking for what you need.&nbsp; If you phrase your needs as a question, be prepared that you are extending an invitation to say no.&nbsp; If you need time off, say you do.&nbsp; You do not have to justify why by providing a list of personal information.&nbsp; This is your project.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supervisors are not in charge of whether you pass or fail.&nbsp; They do not control the rest of your life.&nbsp; They are there to provide feedback to increase the opportunity for success.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Critical feedback is an opportunity to learn.&nbsp; This is not personal.&nbsp; It is necessary for continuous improvement if you understand what needs to change.&nbsp; It is ok to be upset about receiving critical feedback.&nbsp; It may make you feel better to assume that your Supervisor has the best intention in providing it.&nbsp; If they didn\u2019t believe you have the skill to improve, they wouldn\u2019t continue to give up their time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is helpful to be involved in a community of other PhD students.&nbsp; Everyone needs the opportunity to vent about difficulties and find humour in situations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep communication open.&nbsp; There is no harm in letting your Supervisor know what works best for you.&nbsp; You can expect your Supervisor to adapt where it\u2019s reasonable.&nbsp; For example, if more regular, shorter meetings suit better than one longer one per month, this is at no additional time cost to your Supervisor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your Supervisor is human too!&nbsp; They will make mistakes and may have situations they struggle with.&nbsp; Their expertise is in academic research.&nbsp; If you are contacting them for support, you need to say explicitly what you want them to fix.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It is natural that something you spend such time and energy on such as a PhD will be tied to your self-worth.&nbsp; It is common for students to talk to us about \u2018Imposter Syndrome\u2019 and how they worry about what their Supervisors and other staff think of them.&nbsp; It is important to remember that your worth as a human being is not defined by your research progress.&nbsp; You will make mistakes, and that is ok.&nbsp; Your role is to learn and improve.&nbsp; You earned your place and were selected for a reason.&nbsp; Your supervisor wants to see you succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are cases where the relationship between student and Supervisor becomes difficult, or the student doesn\u2019t feel they can address concerns with their supervisor.&nbsp; In these cases, students can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Speak to the Second Supervisor in the first instance or request that they attend meetings.&nbsp; Second Supervisors should be attending 6 of the 12 meetings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Talk to friends about your experience to get perspective and help to process the situation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the situation does not resolve, you can speak to the PGR Director.&nbsp; You can request to change your supervisor if necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Read the Student Union Toolkit or request guidance from Advice SU.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/studentvoice\/studentsupervisorrelationshiptoolkit\/\">The Student-Supervisor Relationship Toolkit | QSU (qubsu.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/AdviceSU\/\">SU Advice | QSU (qubsu.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to Tim Fosker of the School of Psychology for providing information and guidance on this topic.  : <a href=\"https:\/\/pure.qub.ac.uk\/en\/persons\/tim-fosker\">https:\/\/pure.qub.ac.uk\/en\/persons\/tim-fosker<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A common query for students at the Wellbeing and Accessible Learning Drop-in is what should be expected from their Supervisor.&nbsp; This relates particularly to PGR students, although there have been occasions when a Dissertation Supervisor is the subject of discussion.&nbsp; For a PGR student, the Primary Supervisor is the main connection with the university.&nbsp; Any [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1328,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/09\/QUB_100522-34.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}