The challenges and trade-offs of supporting doctoral student writing: A case study of faculty experiences

Abstract

Although doctoral supervision involves guiding the writing process, limited research exists regarding how faculty practice writing supervision. This case study investigates how faculty in one U.S. educational leadership department supervise doctoral writing. While the department incorporates best practices for student writing support and preparation, findings demonstrate continued challenges with student writing that result in trade-off decisions for supervisors’ investment of time and emotional labour. The results, analysed through a doctoral writing supervision framework, suggest that student commitment to writing development may need more emphasis in order to increase completion rates and reduce faculty labour.