THE IMPACT OF POOR SUPERVISION ON POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

The paper assesses the causes and effects of poor supervision on postgraduate students in higher education institutions. There is a growing concern worldwide and in South Africa about the quality of postgraduate supervision in higher education institutions and the length of time it takes postgraduate students to complete their studies. The purpose of the article is to investigate the impact of poor supervision on postgraduate students in order to recommend necessary interventions and encourage quality supervision which will benefit all stakeholders. The paper addresses the following question: What are causes and effects of poor supervision on postgraduate students in universities? Postgraduate students encounter various challenges which they do not report as they fear victimisation. Hence, there has been a growth in students enrolling for postgraduate studies and research programmes but there has not been a substantial increase in the output of successful postgraduate students. Different challenges have been identified and necessary interventions have been suggested. In order to address the objective and the question, the survey was conducted where questionnaires were administered to sixty postgraduate students. Scholars always encourage the use of a theory or theories when attempting to explain the phenomena, thus, the instructional theory was utilised.