A rationale for trauma-informed postgraduate supervision

ABSTRACT

Doctoral researchers are our present and future knowledge-makers. Social justice requires democratic opportunities for knowledge creation, and to this end doctoral supervision theory and practice have become increasingly inclusive, flexible, culturally responsive, and person-centred over time. However, consideration of trauma and trauma-informed practice has remained absent from this work. This conceptual paper signals the need to recognise that doctoral cohorts will include those with lived experiences of trauma. The paper then presents a rationale for developing trauma-informed approaches to doctoral supervision, theorising this approach in relation to wider inclusive education efforts in higher education, Universal Design for Learning, and the social model of disability. Intersections with current trends in doctoral supervision literature and practice are considered, and core principles of trauma-informed practice are identified that can inform work in the specific context of doctoral supervision. The paper offers a fresh perspective on inclusive doctoral education and directions for future work.

KEYWORDS:

• Supervision
• doctoral education
• postgraduate education
• higher education
• trauma
• trauma-informed practice

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr Anthony Richardson (University of Waikato) for his encouragement and input as a critical friend during the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Except, of course, where one of these is the supervisor’s specialist field! Even in these cases, however, a supervisor would be explicitly taking on a supervisory role and despite their therapeutic expertise would not be acting as a therapist for their doctoral student/s. Maintaining these boundaries is an important characteristic of doctoral education in therapeutic fields.

2 See also McGee and Stovall (2015) which, though not specifically focused on doctoral education, presents extremely relevant and compelling arguments around the links between higher education, racially minoritised students, mental health, and racial trauma.

3 It is also well-documented that a person’s trauma history may motivate them to pursue particular careers (in particular, careers in the “helping professions”; e.g. Bryce et al. 2021; and Hiles Howard et al. 2015). However, no research was able to be located that specifically considered whether past trauma experiences contributed to students’ motivation to pursue doctoral education or their experiences while in doctoral education.

4 Hereafter, I use the terms ‘trauma-informed practice(s)’ and ‘trauma-informed approach(es)’ interchangeably.