Research Supervision
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Intellectual climate

Overview and research

One area where most universities score lower than others in the Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire is research culture or 'intellectual climate'.

Summary Statistics for PREQ Sub-Scales for All Australian respondents 2002-2006 % agreement
Scale 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Supervision 70.8 72.7 72.7 73.8 76.3
Skill Development 89.0 89.6 91.1 90.6 91.1
Intellectual Climate 54.7 56.3 57.7 58.3 63.2
Infrastructure 65.8 67.2 68.5 69.5 72.7
Thesis Examination 75.0 75.1 79.2 79.4 80.2
Goals & Expectations 87.5 89.3 90.1 90.0 91.2
Overall Satisfaction Item 80.8 82.3 83.8 83.4 84.8

(Source: ANU Statistics Office)

The statements to which the Graduate Careers Council of Australia ask students to respond to (on a 5-point Likert-scale) under the intellectual climate of the survey are:

  • The department provided opportunities for social contact with other postgraduate students
  • I was integrated into the department's community
  • A good seminar program for postgraduate students was provided
  • The department provided opportunities for me to become involved in the broader research culture
  • The research ambience in the department or faculty stimulated my work.

Certainly where candidates comment positively on their experience one of the most common positives is feeling part of a research culture. In fact, candidates involved in a positive research culture are likely to rate their overall experience high, even when their supervision was not necessarily highly regarded.

Culture is often referred to as knowing the 'rules of the game'. These rules can be learned implicitly e.g. how to question appropriately in a seminar from having attended several with one's supervisor, or explicitly e.g. how to present in a seminar after having attended a workshop on presentation skills.

The appropriate ethics and approaches to research for the discipline within which the candidate is working can be learned through involvement in the broader research culture of the Centre/School. Worryingly of course, candidates can learn unethical behaviour and inappropriate ways of undertaking research if involved in a negative cultural environment.

Of course, some graduates responding to the survey will have been part-time, off-campus candidates and there is no doubt that it is difficult for part-time candidates to access some of the positive aspects of the departmental research culture, however, one presumes this is no reason not to focus on the needs of these candidates.

The above text was based on the following research:

Graduate Careers Council of Australia (2003). Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire: 2002. Parkville Vic, GCCA.

Kiley, M. (2005). Engaging students in doctoral communities. In AUQF (Ed.), 2005 Australian Universities Quality Forum: Engaging communities (pp. 73-77). Sydney: AUQA.

Lonner, W. and R. Malpass, Eds. (1994). Psychology and culture. Needham Heights, Allyn & Bacon.

Ideas and tools

Questions to ask yourself about developing a Positive (or Negative) Research Culture:

  • Are there specific characteristics of a sound (and unsound) research culture? How do these vary for off-campus or part-time students?
  • Is a research culture simply a way of reinforcing elitism and competitive practices?
  • Can a culture be constructed or does it evolve?
  • How should the responsibility for the inclusion of research candidates be shared among staff at various levels of seniority and responsibility and the candidates themselves?
  • Does inclusion in the discipline's research culture make a difference to the outcome of a candidature or is it (just) a satisfaction issue?
  • Do students need to be included in the broader discipline research culture or is it sufficient that they have a vibrant culture within their own group?
  • Are we developing less than fully rounded academics if they have not experienced a positive doctoral research culture? What about a negative culture?

The attached checklist has proved to be useful to staff wanting to review whether the department/centre/school in which they are working has a positive research culture or not.

ANU information

The results of the Graduate Destinations and PREQ for ANU are available for ANU Staff and Students only.

 

For College-specific information contact:

College of Engineering & Computer Science

College of Law

College of Arts and Social Sciences

College of Asia & the Pacific

College of Business & Economics

College of Medicine and Health Sciences

Alternatively, contact the College Associate Dean (HDR) for more general college information.