Great expectations: the relationship between negotiating student and supervisor expectations at the\ud commencement of the candidature and future conflict

Clarifying student and supervisor expectations at the start of the Higher Degree Research candidature is said to be important to provide a strong foundation for the student/supervisor relationship and to prevent later conflict (Jonas, 2012). However, research in a regional Australian university has identified that while clarifying expectations is helpful, it does not prevent much of the conflict that arises in the Higher Degree Research student/supervisor relationships. This article explores the relationship between negotiating student and supervisor expectations at the commencement of the candidature and later student/supervisor conflict. It considers the use of checklists and conversation guides to support discussion about expectations at the start of the candidature and the impact of those conversations on later conflict. It identifies a number of problematic factors in how these conversations occur, in particular the differences between the level of power and knowledge of the supervisor and the student, and the tendency for the conversations to be supervisor-centred. The research also identifies that a large proportion of conflict that arises in the HDR relationship is not about unclear expectations, as such, but rather about clear expectations that are not met, or about other matters entirely. The author recommends that in order to minimise unnecessary conflict in the HDR supervisory relationship, and to ensure that inevitable conflict is managed constructively, more needs to be done to support students and supervisors.In particular, conflict needs to be normalised and seen as a positive, learning experience; students and supervisors need training about how to manage conflict constructively; and they also need independent confidential support such as conflict coaching to assist them to manage conflict effectively at an early stage prior to it escalating to a point where it is unresolvable. Clearer exit pathways are also important where the conflict is not able to be managed or resolved