The question - 'What makes for effective PhD training and supervision in the Arts and Humanities?' - is currently being considered at the University of York in a three-month project, initially funded by the University's Teaching Innovation and Development Committee, and based in the Staff Development Office.
The project, devised and managed by Dr Stephanie Marshall and Dr Steve Hutchinson, and assisted by Dr Cordelia Beattie, has three main objectives:
1) To examine the range of literature and materials on offer, nationally and internationally, in order to provide a broad understanding of the rationale for, and examples of best practice in, graduate skills and supervisory programmes, as a context for this local study.
2) To audit current practice in the departments of English, History, History of Art and the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of York, by issuing questionnaires to all MPhil/DPhil students and their supervisors, and conducting follow-up interviews.
3) To provide a summary of findings and a set of recommendations which
will go the various departmental Graduate Committees and the Board for
Graduate Schools. Agreed recommendations will inform future developments
both in the departments and in the work of the Staff Development Office.
Over recent years, there has been concern that skills training for PhD students
has lagged well behind that offered to undergraduates. The Research Councils
for Science and Engineering, and the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) have addressed this issue by requiring that, for any PhD programme
to be eligible for the award of studentships, skills training must be an
integral part. The recent formation of a research council for the Arts and
Humanities (the AHRB), combined with press releases highlighting concern
for unemployed PhD graduates in the arts and humanities (see, for example,
), have raised concerns that the needs of this large group of students should
be addressed. Similarly, a recent report by the UK Council for Graduate Education
argues that 'the character of the humanities should play a central role in
shaping the debate over research training' (UKCGE, Research Training for
Humanities Postgraduate Students [2000]). The AHRB have taken these concerns
on board and are currently conducting their own review which will consider,
amongst other areas, research training and supervision. In the latter area,
supervision, more research has again been undertaken in science and engineering
(e.g. by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in 1996)
and the social sciences (see S. Delamont et al., Supervising the PhD [1997],
which was funded by the ESRC). Research into PhD supervision in the arts
and humanities though remains underdeveloped. The York study aims to think
about both related areas: training and supervision.
York has a very good track record in securing AHRB (formerly the British Academy) studentships. This project thus proposes to build on the strengths of the research schools in English, History, History of Art and the Centre for Medieval Studies, and conduct some small-scale research into the area of how universities can best assist with the academic socialisation of doctoral students in the arts and humanities. Depending on the findings of this three-month project, it is hoped that a larger scale, collaborative project could be set up with a comparable HE institution.
If you have any comments which you think would be useful to this project please contact Cordelia Beattie, via The Staff Development Office, Goodricke College, University of York, Heslington, YO10 5DD.
Newsletter Issue 2 - August 2001
© English Subject Centre