Supervisors were first students: Analysing supervisors’ perceptions as doctoral students versus doctoral supervisors

This study focused on examining how supervisors perceive their doctoral experiences both as students and supervisors and the relationships between these perceptions. Sixty-one supervisors from different Spanish universities described their accounts through narratives. The results indicated a varied range of affective values that they attributed to their experiences. The results also showed that supervisors’ experiences were related to research skills, supervisory support, agency, interaction and resources and affordances. These categories integrated the most significant aspects that they considered to help or hinder the doctoral process. Moreover, a relationship between participants’ student experience and their current experience as supervisors was detected.