To a student, postgraduate research is often characterised as a very emotional process, more often associated with negative emotion that may hinder successful and speedy completion of the postgraduate degree. The supervisory relationship may impact greatly on the emotion the student experiences. Emotional labour is the induction or suppression of emotion in order to sustain an outward appearance. Being bound in a professional and often subordinate relationship, the student may not be willing, or able to, outwardly display their emotions. Yet, the existence of, and experience of emotional labour on students in a postgraduate supervisory relationship have not been studied to date. The purpose of the study is to explore the meaning and existence of emotional labour within the postgraduate supervisory relationship from a student’s perspective. By using a qualitative, descriptive approach, in-depth information has been gathered by means of three focus groups. The focus groups consisted of students at different stages of the postgraduate supervisory process. The study resulted in the linking of a student’s perspective of the supervisory process to the emotional labour process. It was found that emotional labour is indeed present in the postgraduate supervisory process, but is dependent on the relationship between the supervisor and the student. Since emotional labour has limitedly been explored in the academic environment, it is believed that supervisors as well as students can benefit from this exploration in this fresh context. This linking of emotional labour to the supervisory process is only the first stage in this research and seeks only to describe the process. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

There is currently little research focusing specifically on the emotional labour and regulation of academic staff in higher education institutions. This study provides insight into the emotional labour regulation strategies that academic staff use within the higher education context. This research both explores and describes the emotional regulatory strategies that lecturers (including senior lecturers, associate professors and professors) use in a research-intensive academic institution in the South African context. Although previous research has shown that emotional labour is relevant in the higher education context for academic staff, little research has been conducted to uncover which regulation strategies academic staff use and why these strategies are employed. This study was conducted using a qualitative method, in which a combination of snowball, convenience and purposive sampling strategies was used to gain access to the intended sample of fifteen participants. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were the source of data collection and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected. Emotional labour has been shown to affect the well-being of professionals in their workplace. Therefore, monitoring and controlling emotional labour is of paramount importance for a healthy workforce. In a higher education environment, the well-being of students is directly influenced by the well-being of the staff and the overall effectiveness of service delivery by the organisation (in terms of research outputs as well as teaching and learning). Evidently, the emotional labour and regulation thereof of the individual academic staff member may have far-reaching effects. This study confirmed that emotional labour is experienced by academic staff within the university context. Moreover, the academic work context of academic staff involves a high degree of interaction with people that includes a range of diverse job tasks. The perceived display rules of the university were defined and described in this study. The emotional labour regulation strategies that academic lecturing staff utilise are those of deep, genuine and surface acting. However, the use of these strategies is not straightforward, as academic lecturing staff apply a range of these regulation strategies based on several reasons or rationales. These rationales further determine when an individual will select one or a combination of regulation strategies. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

A Study of Cultural Differences on the Supervisory Process in a Graduate School Program. Nancy Marie Gauvin, 2016: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Speech-Language Pathology Databases, Speech-language Pathology, Supervisors, Supervision, Supervisory Training. This applied dissertation was designed to provide new knowledge that will add to the field of speech-language pathology in both practice and theory. Investigating the need for cultural competency training for Speech-language pathology (SLP) supervisors can offer future supervisors improved relationships with graduate students. Currently, no formal training exists to address cultural diversity sensitivity at the supervisory level. The data were gathered by utilizing an online survey to receive responses from SLP supervisors to ascertain their cultural diversity and sensitivity. The study results were determined by using a t-test and exploratory factor analysis to examine if a need for cultural diversity training existed in the SLP field for speech-language pathologists in the United States. The researcher used a survey targeting SLP supervisors regarding their experiences with working with culturally diverse graduate students. The survey utilized a 5-point Likert scale to ascertain the supervisory experiences of SLPs. The intent of the survey was to ascertain the thoughts and beliefs of SLP supervisors who have had experience with graduate students with diverse backgrounds. Results of the study revealed that SLP supervisors have limited experiences with cultural diversity training as it specifically pertains to supervision of culturally diverse graduate students.