Collaboration in the Supervision of Doctoral Theses in Education in Spain
Abstract
The demands of internationalisation in doctoral programmes, the need for more interdisciplinary thesis supervision, and the goal of improving the quality of doctoral theses have led to a significant increase in co-supervision. This research aims to explore the nature and characteristics of the collaboration in the supervision of outstanding doctoral theses in the field of Education. To achieve this, a bibliometric univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis of doctoral theses in Education defended in Spain between 2018 and 2021 that received extraordinary distinction was conducted, considering aspects such as the nature of the collaboration, as well as the experience and impact of the supervisory teams. The results show that 61.2% of the awarded theses were co-supervised by two or, in exceptional cases, three individuals. Collaboration among professors from the same university and area of knowledge predominated, often with a significant difference in experience in thesis supervision and academic impact; interdisciplinary, inter-university, and international co-supervision were less frequent. Additionally, at least one of the supervisors of the awarded theses demonstrated substantial experience in thesis supervision and high academic impact. In conclusion, there is a clear need to further strengthen co-supervision, particularly those fostering interdisciplinary, inter-university, and international collaboration. Furthermore, to enhance thesis quality, prioritising the supervision of experienced lecturers with established research is recommended, while encouraging collaboration with junior lecturers as a form of learning the responsibilities involved in thesis supervision.
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