Lessons from Postgraduate supervision in two African Universities: an autoethnographic account

Abstract

This paper presents an evocative autoethnographic account of my postgraduate supervision experience in two African institutions while dealing mainly with students in the computing disciplines of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology. In this paper, the context of the postgraduate supervision, and the lessons learnt are presented based on personal reflection, students’ feedback, and retrospective analysis on my activities as an absorbed participant in the supervision process. The reflection of my supervision process offers vital lessons for all supervisors in the developing country context who are torn between the requirements for the student to do quality work and get published in top journals, and the challenges in their operational environment and students’ lives. The study also recommends some good practices that could help supervisors that are operating in similar contexts to mine.