Abstract:
Supervision plays an integral role in the success of higher degree by research (HDR) students. Quality supervision of Indigenous HDR students is a vital component of a successful research degree. Highlighting the perspectives of supervisors of Indigenous HDR students about quality supervisor in Australia, we explore supervisors’ understanding of Indigenous HDR students’ expectations and compare them with Indigenous HDR students’ expectations. This study includes six phases of data collection, and this paper focuses on phase five of the study. In this phase, we surveyed 33 supervisors across Australia who have experience supervising Indigenous HDR students. The survey was distributed through our established university networks and was sent via email. This paper focuses mainly on the data of supervisors and refers to Indigenous HDR students’ data (32 participants from phase 4) at times. To analyse the data, we conducted a thematic analysis using NVivo software. We found that supervisors need to be more supportive of Indigenous HDR students’ work and provide opportunities for students to grow and succeed in the completion of their research degree. The implications from this research include strengthening strategies for the supervision of Indigenous HDR students and fostering mutual-respectful supervisor-student relationships.