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Effect of supervision on timely completion of PhD Programme


Irenee Ndayambaje

Abstract

Although universities continue to attract students to register for Doctor of Philosophy Programme known as PhD, the challenge to complete these programmes on time has remained weighty. Hence, this paper aimed to explore supervision as a contributing factor. The study adopted Narrative Research Design and targeted international PhD graduates from Kenyatta University in Kenya. In total, the study dealt with six graduates of the 2015 and 2016 classes sampled by means of Snowball technique. An interview guide was developed. E-mail, Skype, WhatsApp chats and phone calls were used in data collection. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data which were reported in narrative form using direct quotes and/or paraphrase. The overall findings revealed three supervision defects that hinder the timely completion of PhD for international students. These are (i) limited level of supervisor-supervisee interaction, (ii) inadequate technical guidance from supervisors and (iii) poor or delayed feedback from supervisors.

Keywords: Supervision, PhD programme, Timely completion, International Students, Kenyatta University


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eISSN: 2312-9239