Performing expertise in doctoral dissertations: Thoughts on a fundamental dilemma facing doctoral students and their supervisors

Abstract

Abstract By the time L1 and L2 doctoral students complete their dissertations, they are expected to be experts in their areas and methods of inquiry and in the academic discourse in which they represent their work. Likewise, their supervisors are expected to be expert guides and managers of their students’ work throughout the process. However, a review of the literature on expertise indicates that neither students nor supervisors, especially inexperienced ones, necessarily embody the expertise that is expected of them. Therefore, they must learn to perform like experts, with students displaying the expertise of scholars and supervisors managing students’ projects in ways that convey and encourage displays of expertise. Raising students’ and supervisors’ awareness that these performances are a normal part of an academic life can help prevent the debilitating anxiety that comes from expectations that are set unrealistically high.