Voices of Supervisors on Thesis Supervision Practices in Universities in Kenya

Abstract

In the recent years, there has been a considerable debate over various aspects of postgraduate supervision globally. While a number of studies have been undertaken on thesis supervision in Kenya, only a few have focused on the voices of supervisors and their experiences. This study sought to explore the experiences of supervisors on thesis supervision practices in universities in Kenya. The study employed a qualitative approach within a social constructivist paradigm. Convenient and purposive sampling was used to select 12 academic supervisors from three public universities. Data collection was done using unstructured individual interview with the supervisors. The data was analyzed thematically and results revealed that supervisors play a critical role in the thesis supervision process. However, it was clear that supervisors encounter several challenges with students who derail the supervision process through non-commitment, lack of integrity, poor research skills and disappearing in the process. The findings also revealed that universities are yet to support their work in an optimal way to deal with lack of supervisor motivation, heavy workload and inactive supervision policies.