Student support in postgraduate research student achievement: making the most of a university research environment

If successful research degree completion has been linked with the quality of research supervision, as noted by Li and Seale (2007), graduate schools and other service providers have a key role to play in postgraduate research student support. However published research linking postgraduate research student support and the learning experience is still scarce (Leonard, 2006; QAA, 2011). The concept of postgraduate student support, as distinct from the traditional notion of supervisory academic support, has also been given little attention. This discussion will focus on the role of student support in postgraduate research student achievement, despite, and perhaps, because of, the paucity of published research. Notwithstanding the complex nature of establishing links between support processes and doctoral completions, a number of key considerations drawn from the literature will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of student support in two post-1992 universities with contrasting approach to supporting the learning experience of their postgraduate research students, focusing on the following themes: 1. the intellectual climate 2. the institutional framework 3. the support environment 4. the nature of student support It will then be possible to sketch an outline schema and set general boundaries in which effective student support can be fostered and developed at institutional level.