Paper long abstract:

Over the last seven years, a course entitled 'Strengthening Postgraduate Supervision' (http://postgradsupervision.com) has been offered more than 60 times to academic staff across 22 public universities in South Africa. The course aims to develop supervision capacity amid calls for increased doctoral education (National Development Plan 2011). The course is underpinned by a focus on the public good benefits of postgraduate education, beyond private good benefits. This presentation discusses some of the lessons about doctoral education that have been learned. The objective of this paper is to consider the major findings related to institutional structures and cultures that may be of relevance across national contexts. Participant evaluations, facilitator reports, and facilitator observations are analysed using Archer's analytical dualism to make sense of the role of structures, cultures and agency in doctoral education. The key findings presented here relate to the need for institutional support for novice advisors, the ways in which institutional hierarchies can constrain graduate education, and the need for flexibility to engage with 'alternative' models of doctoral education. The findings emerge amidst policy demands for growth in doctoral output, but will have relevance for other national contexts.