Training and Accreditation of Postgraduate Supervisors: A Case Study

In a bid to develop a critical mass of knowledge workers for the ever-changing competitive global markets, postgraduate doctoral students must be guided and provided with effective supervision. To date, the training and accreditation of postgraduate supervisors is an area that has been long neglected and under researched. Therefore, this paper explores postgraduate supervisors' perspectives on training and accreditation of supervisors. The case study involved 121 postgraduate supervisors from two public universities in Malaysia. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The results showed that supervisors felt that institutions of higher education should have in place a well-structured training programme for supervisors before they embark on postgraduate supervision. Nevertheless, a mixed response was recorded in terms of the accreditation of postgraduate supervisors. The findings of this study imply that more needs to be done for the training and accreditation of postgraduate supervisors.