ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1570137
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Interface Between Social Psychology and Educational Psychology: Interactional Phenomena in Educational SettingsView all 5 articles
PhD student-supervisor relationship and its impacts: A perspective of the interpersonal relationship model
Provisionally accepted
- The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong, SAR China
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This study aimed to explore the PhD student-supervisor relationship and its impacts on students and supervisors from a qualitative perspective. A total of 50 PhD students and 11 supervisors from Hong Kong were approached using focus groups and individual interviews. Based on the interpersonal relationship model, this study conducted interviews with students to examine their perceptions of eight styles of relationships and their impact on students. The results highlighted that the PhD student-supervisor relationship affected student academic achievement, well-being, and career and social network development. The interviews with the supervisors showed the impact on supervisors related to well-being, reflection on coaching style, and selection for future students. Findings provide theoretical insights and conceptual and practical implications for understanding the eight styles of PhD student-supervisor relationships. This study also offers recommendations on university policies aiming to enhance the PhD student-supervisor relationship in order to boost positive impacts and hinder negative impacts.
Keywords: PhD students, supervisor, Student-supervisor relationship, Interpersonal relationship model, interpersonal behavior
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Xu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Junjun Chen, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong, SAR China
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