Agency and identity in the doctoral student-supervisor relationship

Abstract

This paper examines selected current university academics’ recollections of their doctoral journeys and in particular their interactions with their supervisors. The participants' responses to a series of questions in an online questionnaire were analysed thematically for what they demonstrated about the respondents' experiences of agency and identity through their relationships with their supervisors and in some cases their subsequent associations with those supervisors. The results of the analysis highlight the situated and contextualised character of agency, as well as the multiple forms taken by identities within and across disciplinary and national boundaries.