Campus Talks: Why it takes more than a PhD to become a good doctoral supervisor
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Effective graduate supervision depends on a suite of interpersonal, technical and disciplinary skills, but many scholars enter into this complex, years-long role with only a small toolkit left over from their own PhD journey. When a good supervision experience brings enrichment to supervisor and supervisee alike, as well as completion cachet for both, but poor supervision can be destructive, this is one area of academia that should not be left to chance or assumptions. Especially not when the capabilities required can be learned.
Institutions, as well as students and established scholars, have much to gain when universities develop communities and support structures to ensure that skills such as planning, communication, judgement and cultural awareness are embedded across the university.
To find out more, we speak to Katerina Standish, an advocate for professional development around graduate supervision and author of The Graduate Supervisors Handbook: Practical Strategies for Graduate Pedagogy and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026). Katerina is a professor of global and international studies, interim dean of the Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences, and Humanities, and vice-provost academic at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. Having supervised 26 PhD candidates and many master’s students to completion, her postgraduate teaching and supervision background draws on knowledge of Western and Indigenous research frameworks, and she is a certified conflict coach.
This conversation is packed with practical tips about building foundational skills and where established scholars can look to advance their own practice.
For more advice on research supervision that supports and inspires, check out our latest spotlight guide.
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