‘Am I nobody?’ An exploratory study on power relations in doctoral co-supervision in Mozambique

Abstract

Intercultural doctoral supervision is recognised as extremely important. However, in the Global South it is widespread but under-researched. This qualitative study, undertaken at the flagship university in Mozambique, Eduardo Mondlane University, aimed to explore the power relationship within supervisory teams between the Global North and South, from the perspective of doctoral co-supervisors from the Global South. The study draws on nine in-depth interviews with Southern co-supervisors. A reflexive thematic analysis was chosen and the principal findings revealed Southern co-supervisors’ feelings of exclusion, frustration, and subordination related to the power relationship between the Global North and South. However, many interviewees found co-supervision rewarding, and a path to a future career. Findings suggest that collaborations between the Global North and South should give special consideration to power dynamics to improve the quality of intercultural co-supervision, thereby supporting the supervisory teams and, consequently, doctoral students’ progress.

L’encadrement doctoral interculturel est reconnu comme étant très important. Cependant, dans les pays du Sud, il est répandu mais peu étudié. Cette étude qualitative, entreprise dans l’université phare du Mozambique, l’Université Eduardo Mondlane, visait à explorer les relations de pouvoir au sein des équipes d’encadrement entre le Nord et le Sud, du point de vue des co-directeurs de doctorat. L'étude est basée sur neuf entretiens approfondis avec des co-directeurs. Une analyse thématique réflexive a été choisie et les principales conclusions ont révélé les sentiments d’exclusion, de frustration et de subordination des co-superviseurs liés aux relations de pouvoir entre le Nord et le Sud. Cependant, de nombreuses personnes interrogées ont trouvé la co-supervision enrichissante et qu’elle ouvrait une voie vers une future carrière. En conclusion, les collaborations entre le Nord et le Sud devraient accorder une attention particulière aux dynamiques de pouvoir pour améliorer la qualité du co-encadrement interculturel et ainsi accompagner les équipes d’encadrement et par conséquent, la progression des doctorants.

Keywords:

• capacity building research
• doctoral supervision
• co-supervision
• power relationships
• intercultural supervision

Mots clés:

• recherche de construction de capacité
• supervision de doctorat
• co-supervision
• relations de pouvoir
• supervision interculturelle

Acknowledgements

With enormous gratitude to all co-supervisors that shared their experiences with us online in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. With thanks to professor Lars Geschwind for useful suggestions on the first draft, PhD Alexandra D’Urso who gave valuable comments, Pat FitzGerald for excellent proofreading.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of Ethics

The interviewer clearly communicated the scope and purpose of the research project to all interviewees. All interviewees gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. All interviewees also consented to interviews being used for publication purposes.