The personality (attitudes, actions and behaviour) of a PG student often is a variable that affects the supervision process i.e. the way a PG student interacts with his/her supervisors and colleagues. For example, I have in the past come across students who tend to avoid one supervisor too much, not knowing that this may be detrimental to their progress. Normally, the one avoided is the “hostile” supervisor, yet it is this supervisor who is likely to offer more substantive help to the student. There are also those who seek for help from multiple Faculty without the knowledge of their supervisors. As much as it may be necessary at times to do so, it is important for such students to be referred to other Faculty instead of secretly seeking for help from them. One way out of such situations is for supervisors to educate the students about the supervision process and to caution them accordingly.
