[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment #5563

In general, I’m not a fan that most of the information is offered as a video, I much prefer something written to watching something. There also seems to be a number of ‘articles’ that are included in more than one domain, while that might be helpful if you don’t think about searching for something across domains, it gives an inflated sense of resource in general. I feel like a lot of the tips cover how-to yourself, while currently, I’m more interested in topics from a supervisor’s point of view.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 3: Zoom discussion of key readings #5562

I have found that as I progressed further into my research, I stopped keeping a formal reading journal, except for specific projects, such as review papers/book chapters or opinion pieces. Other than that I found the writing takes up too much time and limits how much I can read, which doesn’t work for me as my research intersects on many topics/fields and it’s almost impossible to keep up with the literature, especially now that pre-prints have become so common.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #5552

In my opinion, a scholar is not only an academic researcher but also actively involved in knowledge transfer either through educational or supervision tasks. My scholarship can refer to one of two things: in the first place, it’s a financial bursary that allows (often young) academics to pursue further education or a research internship, in the second place it could also be a synonym for academics (i.e., activities related to research and education). In my opinion, being active in an academic community can have many meanings. In the first place, this could refer to actively conducting research and sharing the results through articles/books/presentations. Here the need to collaborate with other scientists/stakeholders/students also comes in, implying participating in the peer-review process.
Furthermore, applying for or reviewing grants is an essential contribution to the academic community, as is a role on editorial boards or committees. Whether it’s the role of a supervisor to introduce students into an academic community largely depends on the career stage of the student. While I try to encourage my BSc/MSc students to visit conferences and congresses, preferably with a poster presentation, and encourage them to join journal clubs and meetings organized by our department, I notice some are reluctant to take these opportunities. In those cases, I won’t press them, not everyone wants to pursue an academic career. In the case of the Ph.D. students, I work with, I always share/encourage them to join relevant meetings/conferences/etc. When I meet them at those conferences, I try to introduce them to acquainted researchers (even though I’m not so good at networking myself) and actively try to involve them in new collaborations where I feel they could not only contribute but learn from also. This is something my promotor did for me and continues to do to this day and I hope to continue paying this forward. I have no experience with academic jealousies.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4: National Policies #5345

I will freely admit to not really knowing where to find this for the Netherlands, but our own university/faculty has good online rules/regulations, which I anticipate are mostly on par with the national level

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 3: Models of supervision #5340

First: the sound on this ptt was horrible on my pc, even at 100% I barely heard a word: extremely frustrating and not conducive to the learning experience at all. Perhaps the quality would be better if this was saved as a movie and not a ptt presentation (would also allow for watching at higher speed, which is preferable when it’s not a live presentation)? In the presentation, a link is given with instructions to watch, but then she immediately discusses the video without an opportunity to watch, not that it’s too relevant, since the link doesn’t work for me anyway.
I have experienced mostly co-supervision: in both of my master internships, I had a day-to-day supervisor (postdoc or assistant/associate prof) with whom I met regularly and a full professor with whom I met on occasion to discuss general progress and who graded my performance (with input from the day-to-day supervisor). During my Ph.D. I had a complex co-supervision team: I had two full professors, with partially overlapping expertise, as promotors. I also was in frequent contact with various members of staff from within and outside of our department/university depending on which project/methods I was working. Midway through my Ph.D., my office-mate and frequent collaborator became my official co-promotor. I really liked this model, as it exposed me to a large number of different supervision styles. My experience as a supervisor is largely in a co-supervision team, where I teamed up with a PhD-holding member of staff to supervise a master’s student (as our master’s program doesn’t allow non-PhD holders as primary supervisors). Additionally, I now have collaborations with Ph.D. students in which I function as a collaborator and day-to-day supervisor both. Currently, I’m also solo supervising a master’s student for the first time, though I will frequently discuss with my own mentors to ensure my student gets the best care. This uncertainty is also why I applied to this course.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 2: Supervision with a humanizing pedagogy #5339

I would have liked definitions of what is meant with ‘ways of being/thinking/knowing’ – this was too general and vague for me to adequately reflect upon. Similarly, while this ppt gives us handholds to think about differences in expectations, it gives us no information on how to adequately identify these or how to address this. I hope this will be addressed in more detail later on, as this does not help me become a better supervisor at all, just becoming more worried about not doing it right.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 2: Variables and dynamics in the supervision process #5338

Generally, each of these factors will influence the supervision process. However, which combinations of factors are relevant, and to which degrees will differ between supervisor-supervisee relationships. In general, in the Dutch system, SES played a minor role for many years with the student bursary system and the fact that a Ph.D. is a paid position, making it possible for children of less privileged families to pursue higher education. To my knowledge, our department consists of individuals from a wide SES background, some have families with long traditions of obtaining higher education, but many are also first-generation university-goers. Within my own field/department, I haven’t noticed differences with regard to gender, ‘race’, status, nationality, religion/culture, or age, however, I do believe that in the Netherlands the majority of the Ph.D. students are of Dutch nationality and within psychology, the majority of students will be female. The Dutch system also ensures that there are no mismatches between supervisor-supervisee in topic/field, within the psychology Bachelor and the first internship in the master our department organizes, students can choose among several broad topics and then pick their top 3 research projects/supervisors, thus ensuring a good fit. Regarding Ph.D. students, these are hired on specific projects, often through external funding, so the topic is set in advance. The biggest influence I’ve noticed is language, communication style, and personality. With English being the most common language in science, differences in English education quickly become apparent; supervising students who struggle with their English comprehension is as frustrating to the supervisor as to the student: it’s the first step to good communication. Communication styles and related personality are likely the biggest contributors to a poor or good working relationship. While there are certainly examples where people with vastly different styles/personalities work well together, I believe a matching personality will ensure a more pleasurable experience in general.

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