Stress in doctoral supervision: A perspective on supervisors

Abstract

The research on stress in doctoral education has largely focused on doctoral researchers’ well-being. However, also doctoral supervisors experience stress. This study aims to uncover the dimensions of stressors related to doctoral supervisors and different sources of stress experienced by them. Interviews with doctoral supervisors were conducted to gather evidence of doctoral supervisor stress. We identified eight stressors, of which three were shared between the supervisor and the doctoral researcher: time pressure, balancing work and personal time, and doctoral researcher’s project. Other sources of stress for doctoral supervisors were related to the defence day, organisational and administrative factors, engagement with the student’s personal issues, managing “out-of-scope activities”, and the supervisor’s relationship with their co-supervisor. The insights gained from this study may assist supervisors in finding coping strategies to minimise their stress. Moreover, it can be a step towards understanding how the impact on supervisor’s stress might be theorised.