From Supervisee to Supervisor Professor Julie Jomeen Faculty of Health and Social Care

My PhD Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 2 Full-time ESRC funded ( ) University of Leeds Nuffield Institute for Health/School of Medicine Mixed method study Impact of choice of maternity care on psychological health outcomes and experiences during the antenatal and postnatal periods

Doing a PhD: My own experience Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 3

Getting a PhD Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 4 PhD Knowledge Supervisors You

Supervisors Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 5 Starting a PhD is like entering an ‘ill defined limbo’ (Watson 1974) What is it about a supervisors that helps you to negotiate that often lonely and undulating road? Academic – ‘traumatic intellectual transition’ (Phillips and Pugh 2005) Personal and emotional journey Across the course a PhD we actually develop a new identity Effective relationship is key The right supervisor is essential How many people had a say in choosing their supervisor? What did I want from my supervisors?

What did I want from my supervisor/s? Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 6 Confidence: Am I a fraud? Knowledge & Expertise Support & Reassurance Reliability Time and availability Direction and Clear Goals & Expectations Not supervisors agenda Honesty Keep Ownership Interested even passionate Space to grow

Asking a lot? Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 7 What kind of relationship is it Often close and personal Interpersonal rapport Dependency? Friendship? Dynamic and changing The supervisor also needs to understand the student Sometimes you need your supervisor around a lot (especially at the beginning) Sometimes that might feel oppressive Need to marry up the type of person you are with the type of supervisor you choose/get Advantages in it being someone you already know, respect and trust Also danger in that!

Challenges Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 8 Managing your supervisors Each supervisor was excellent but..... Felt their element of the PhD was the most important – how did I reconcile that? Under-estimation - I could have written 2 PhD’s! My quantitative supervisor moved to Hong Kong in year 2! Our aims change Start PhD’s for a whole host of reasons Enjoyed research, wanted to make a contribution to my field, build on my MA, personal credibility, exciting opportunity Inevitably by the end we just ‘want to get it done’ Good relationships and communication are the key to working it through at all levels

Aims and motivations of supervisors Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 9 Supervisors will undertake supervision for different reasons Interested in developing research and researchers within the field High quality research assistants Offer supervision because it helps build a programme of research and expertise in a particular area High calibre academics to supervise your work Neither is right or wrong Important as a student to know which type of student you are/were/want to be Need to know what kind of supervisor you are/want to be My supervisors encouraged me to be an autonomous researcher..which is a philosophy that I have carried through into my supervision You need to own your PhD If you don’t love at the beginning you sure won’t love it by the end! Publish, publish, publish....

Over to you Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 10 What do you expect from your supervisors? What do you think your supervisors expect from you? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that you are getting good supervision? What is one key lesson will you take with you when you are a supervisor?

What students expect Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 11 Students expect to be supervised by a committed supervisor Students expect supervisors to read their work (in advance) Students expect their supervisors to be available Students expect their supervisors to be friendly, open and supportive Students expect their supervisors to be constructively critical Students expect their supervisors to have a good knowledge of the research area Students expect their supervisors to structure the tutorial so that it is relatively easy to exchange ideas Students expect their supervisors to have sufficient interest in their research to put more information in the students' path Students expect supervisors to be sufficiently involved in their success to help them get a good job at the end of it all!

What I now expect as a supervisor Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 12 Student to be motivated, enthusiastic, passionate and committed Student to become increasingly independent but always maintain contact Attend regular meetings with structure and purpose Be able to accept constructive criticism Student to be honest and realistic Produce work for supervision in good time is they expect feedback Engage in academic dialogue and debate about their subject/methodological choices & decisions Accept advice Publish Learn from my students

What did I learn? Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 13 Emotional journey Undulating – enthusiasm can be difficult to maintain - highs and scraping the bottom of the barrel lows Isolating Brick walls and the ‘getting nowhere syndrome’ Frustration – new exciting avenues which you can’t follow because you must stay focused Transfer of dependence – lessening need for the intensity of supervisor input Transfer of expertise – you become the expert Each supervisory relationship will be slightly different – one size doesn’t fit all If the supervisor/supervisee relationship is a good one, then you want to achieve for them as well as yourself Appreciate your supervisor – they give you a lot of time, energy and consideration! It is a partnership – you are a team

Challenges Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 14 Students are not you Each student is individual Will have different needs both emotionally and academically Responsibility Yours...but students too This is not your PhD When does support end and doing it for them start You are not your supervisors Helps you define the type of supervisor you want to be