Impact of Supervisor-Scholar Relationships in Shaping PhD Motivation

Abstract

Research supervisors play a very significant role in the doctoral journey of a Ph.D. scholar. The interaction between a supervisor and a research scholar is essential in the academic and research worlds. A supervisor's duties include assisting a research scholar with all aspects of their study and offering feedback and guidance on their work. The current paper aimed to study the effect of supervisory-scholar dynamics on the motivation of scholars. The study was conducted on scholars, aged 24-39 years, living in Bangalore. Standardized scales were used to measure the variables. The result shows that there is a significant positive correlation between the helping/friendly scale and intrinsic regulation, the helping/friendly scale and introjected regulation, and the leadership subscale and intrinsic regulation. There was a significant negative correlation between the dissatisfied subscale and intrinsic regulation and the dissatisfied scale and identified regulation. The results show that positive supervisory traits, such as being helpful, friendly, encouraging, and leadership-oriented, increase motivation, whereas negative traits, like dissatisfaction, decrease it. This study focuses on the relationship between supervisors and students, which is important for PhD students' academic journeys.