Spotlight on SoTL: Supervise to Help them Thrive – Supporting BIPOC graduate students

This article is based on the following research article:

Gandarilla Ocampo, M., & Asher BlackDeer, A. (2022). We Deserve to Thrive: Transforming the Social Work Academy to Better Support Black, Indigenous, and Person of Color (BIPOC) Doctoral Students. Advances in Social Work, 22(2), 703–719. https://doi.org/10.18060/24987

Is graduate supervision a key facet of teaching and learning? What are the supervisory practices that might impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) graduate students as supported and successful future scholars? The authors provide a timely analysis on the ways in which BIPOC graduate students might navigate complex dynamics based on teaching practices and supervisory support. Their reflection questions and recommendations are useful for all graduate supervisors (regardless of discipline) and at various levels of teaching and learning.

What did the researchers do and find?

This article responds to institutional pivots to strategically promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across universities post-2020. Authors María Gandarilla Ocampo and Autumn Asher BlackDeer turn to the experiences of BIPOC doctoral students to provide an autoethnographic – a self-reflexive method –  analysis of doctoral programs and supervisory practices. Reflecting on what they describe as “the most significant relationships for a student in doctoral education – the advisor/advisee or mentor/mentee relationship” (707), the authors consider the ways in which racism arises in supervisory support, or the lack thereof. In turn, the key contribution of this article is a list of implications, reflections, and recommendations to address the complicated nature of supervising and supporting BIPOC doctoral students.

How might you use this research in your teaching?

The authors provide a comprehensive table of reflection questions to instill in your approach to graduate supervision as a teaching practice. Using the table (715-716), you might assess your doctoral supervision practices using the four needs listed:

1. Educational environment that is inclusive: Do your teaching and supervisory practices intentionally take on an anti-racist, anti-oppressive & decolonial approach?
2. Tailored support: Do you meet students where your students are at?
3. Academic institutions free from all forms of oppression: Do you mentor BIPOC students in ways that actively combat discriminatory methods?
4. Concrete and formal supports to navigate the academy: Do you know what concrete & formal supports BIPOC students need to thrive?

In turn, your supervision might adopt the recommendations outlined by the authors. For example, exploring how your supervision could address the need for tailored support requires crafting a supervision practice with formalized plans, avenues, and collaborations to support BIPOC graduate students across their time as your advisee.

Stay tuned for the next Spotlight on SoTL coming to the MacPherson Memo on July 3, 2024