How professional supervision can benefit academics

Supervision is commonly offered to health professionals when in practice, and it is known to bring benefits such as enhanced outcomes, risk management and emotional well-being, as well as resilience development and staff retention. However, when health professionals move into educative roles in academia, regular supervision ceases except for annual appraisals and performance reviews. As supervision is known to have benefits in the workplace, this raises the question: why isn’t supervision routinely offered to academics?

Why supervision is important – a personal story

When I first moved into academia, I was excited but also apprehensive about what this change in career direction might entail. Until that point, I had only worked for statutory health services, and the jump into teaching, learning and research felt like a leap into the unknown. It was overwhelming.

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In my prior roles, I was accustomed to regular monthly supervision. This had been a good experience for me and, over the years, I had the benefit of wise and thoughtful line managers who listened to my reflections and concerns and discussed my work dilemmas, decisions and pain points. At times, this support had also touched on personal challenges and upheavals.

Also, crucially, it included regular and ongoing attention to the development of my knowledge and career trajectory, without which I might not have moved into an academic career and instead remained in my often stressful health professional career.

It was only after the move into academia that I discovered this support and development system, one I had gained so much from, was now removed from my working experience.

What is supervision?

Supervision is a process within the workplace that encompasses learning and professional development; it is intended to support positive outcomes, safety and the well-being of all involved. Its purpose is to enhance the supervisee’s knowledge, skills and capabilities, provide general support, including emotional support, and ensure the standards and requirements of the workplace are maintained.

Supervision is different from mentoring and coaching: mentoring tends to focus on the development of the whole person and their career trajectory; coaching tends to be time-limited and focused on the development of a specific skill set.

Of these approaches, mentoring is the one most likely to be offered in higher education.

How can supervision be offered within higher education institutions?

Supervision is most commonly carried out as a one-to-one relationship between manager and employee. However, it can also be undertaken by peers and in groups. Due to the management structure and lower risk level of higher education, supervision might be neither feasible nor required as a formal, regular and ongoing structure between managers and employees. Hence, peer or group supervision could be great solutions for academics seeking the ongoing support, workload management and development that regular supervision can provide.

How to approach and structure supervision

A wide range of models and frameworks are available to help structure the approach and content of a supervisory session. These include the well-known Proctor’s model, the seven-eyed model of supervision, the tandem model of supervision and the queer people of colour resilience-based model of supervision.

Another, newer, approach is the 3Cs of effective supervision: connections, content and continuing development. In this model, “connections” focuses on the relationship development between supervisor and supervisee, and between peers within peer and group supervision. The focus is on creating supportive and trusting relationships, with all parties working to bring attributes such as being caring, open, collaborative, flexible and non-judgemental to supervisory meetings.

“Content” refers to the practical aspects of what to include in supervision. This will vary depending on the people involved and the context. Considering aspects such as purpose, priority topics and selected model, and issues such as regularity, where, how and when, and any organisational policies and processes that have bearing on the sessions, as well as the level of agreement and evaluation methods needed, will help you to plan your supervisory content.

“Continuing development” focuses on enhancing the capability of the supervisee but also on enhancing the knowledge and skills of both supervisor and supervisee.

Giving thought and discussion to these three areas can be useful ways to approach and structure supervision sessions.

How to set up peer and group supervision

Peer supervision usually happens between colleagues who are of a roughly similar level in an organisation, department or team. It can happen in pairs, threes or groups. To set up peer and group supervision, first find like-minded colleagues. You could bring this up in a team or department meeting to gauge interest. Agree a time and date for an initial meeting to discuss your approach. Set up your meetings for an agreed time before evaluating how they are going – for example, usually an hour a month, with evaluation set after a six- to 12-month period.

Things to watch out for

Be sure to inform your line manager of any peer- and group-supervision sessions you set up. Be aware of the personal attributes that you take into supervision sessions, and ensure that you and your peers do not use the time to make decisions outside the usual team environment, nor to gossip or engage in unhelpful behaviours. Similarly, be aware of the insidious nature of privilege and power dynamics and of equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging in any peer and group supervisory sessions you might set up.

Regular supervision in higher education could help to increase job satisfaction and reduce stress, burnout and staff turnover from heavy workloads, and help individuals work towards professional goals such as increasing research output. While our higher education organisational and managerial structures tend not to allow for regular one-to-one line-management supervision, peer and group supervision could be effective alternatives, which individuals, team and departments could work together to put into place.

Anita Volkert is a lecturer in occupational therapy in the department of occupational therapy, and human nutrition and dietetics at Glasgow Caledonia University. She is co-editor of Supervision for Occupational Therapy: Practical Guidance for Supervisors and Supervisees, with Karina Dancza and Stephanie Tempest (Routledge, 2022).

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