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Article
Interdisciplinary doctoral supervision: A scoping review
Canadian Journal of Higher Education (2013)
  • Meredith Vanstone, McMaster University
  • Kathryn Hibbert, Western University
  • Elizabeth Anne Kinsella, Western University
  • Pamela McKenzie, Western University
  • Allan Pitman, Western University
  • Lorelei Lingard, Western University
Abstract

This scoping literature review examines the topic of interdisciplinary doctoral research supervision. Interdisciplinary doctoral research programs are expanding in response to encouragement from funding agencies and enthusiasm from faculty and students. In an acknowledgement that the search for creative and innovative solutions to complex problems is best addressed through interdisciplinary collaborations, research-intensive universities are increasingly encouraging interdisciplinary projects and programs. The expansion of interdisciplinary research to the context of doctoral research may impact several core components of the doctorate: the enactment of the student–supervisor relationship, the process of forming and working with a supervisory committee, and the process and outcomes of doctoral research. In order to ensure that interdisciplinary doctoral supervision occurs in a positive and effective way, it is necessary to understand the distinct needs and challenges of interdisciplinary students and their supervisors, through scholarship about this phenomenon.

Keywords
  • interdisciplinary,
  • doctoral,
  • PhD,
  • supervision,
  • supervisor,
  • advisor,
  • research,
  • multi-disciplinary,
  • transdisciplinary,
  • integrative,
  • cross-disciplinary
Publication Date
Summer August, 2013
Publisher Statement
This article can also be accessed from the publisher: http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/cjhe/article/view/2403/184059
Citation Information
Meredith Vanstone, Kathryn Hibbert, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella, Pamela McKenzie, et al.. "Interdisciplinary doctoral supervision: A scoping review" Canadian Journal of Higher Education Vol. 43 Iss. 2 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kathryn-hibbert/1/