A Comparative Study On Graduate Supervisors Training System Of Research Universities In The UK And The US

In world top universities,graduate supervisor training is a crucial way to increase supervisors’ personal capacities and build a better spectrum of supervising faculty.In this study,10 research universities in the UK and the US on the supervisor training system as the research object.And this study aims to explore the following question:How do British and American research universities design the postgraduate supervisor training system? Through the analysis of the literature,the graduate supervisor training system of research universities in the UK and the US generally presents a more "structured" or "self-help" differentiation.Among them,the research universities in the UK have carried out supervisor training that aiming to help supervisors clarify their duties,establish a correct view of supervision and impart supervising skills;Research universities in the US have carried out problem-solving oriented supervisor training in the form of non-obviously procedural and non-mandatory training organization.On this basis,with the help of organizational socialization strategy theory and role theory,the advantages and disadvantages of the design of the supervisor training system of research universities in the two countries are discussed: the supervisor training of British research universities is conducive to enhancing the consistency of the values of supervisors and the university and forming an organization order gives the supervisor a certain sense of security,but it is easy to cause the homogenization of the thinking of the supervisor group and form a fixed role compliance.The supervisor training of American research universities is conducive to supervisors’ innovative work and roletaking methods,and realize self-worth,but not conducive to avoiding the uncertainty and anxiety of the new supervisors’ career development,and it is easy to cause the "heterogeneity" of the values of the supervisor and the organization.The difference in the training system of postgraduate supervisors between the two countries is importantly related to the differences in the “standards for granting supervisor qualifications” and “the motivation for establishing the training system”."The changing times of the mission of higher education" and "the increasingly diversified needs of graduate students" are important factors that share commonalities in the training systems of the two countries.Revealing the characteristics,differences,commonalities,advantages and disadvantages of the supervisor training system of the universities of the two countries is of great enlightenment for the improvement of the postgraduate supervisor training system of the universities in our country.