OMTANKE SOM UTGÅNGSPUNKT VID AKDEMISK HANDLEDNING

Abstract

CARE AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE FOR ACADEMIC SUPERVISION 

It is appalling that so many doctoral students feel bad and do not complete their theses. We, more senior academics have a responsibility as fellow human beings to establish structures that take care of our colleagues. In this article, I argue that care for the doctoral student's development should be a starting point in supervision work. With care as a point of departure, it becomes easier to: find the right level for demands and goals, admit shortcomings in the supervision, talk about problems in fixed power relations, and deal with challenges from the violent academy, amongst others. Caring about the doctoral student's development means many different things during the journey. Even though the article details what care for the doctoral student's development can mean, the point is rather that it becomes easier to realize what good supervision is, if concern for the doctoral student's well-being is a starting point in the supervision work.