Briefing 7
Doctoral Supervision in a Cross-cultural Context: Issues Affecting Supervisors and Candidates

Over the past decade, the doctoral student population has become increasing diverse (Pearson, 1999). Along with the general trend in the internationalisation of higher education, an important phenomenon has been increasing numbers of students pursuing their doctorates in a country other than that of their origin (Taylor, 2012). These students face the particular complexities of adapting to, and assimilating into, new cultural environments (Robinson-Pant, 2009). In addition, there has been increasing pressure on universities to ensure that doctoral candidates complete their studies in time (Green & Usher, 2003).

This article presents a qualitative study of a relatively large and diverse group of candidates and supervisors from three Australian universities. In this study, we aim to determine the main issues facing such candidates and supervisors, and to ascertain why international candidates and their supervisors, and others in similar cross-cultural situations, often find the supervisory process difficult and problematic.