Supporting Educational Researchers of the Future

Postgraduate research in fields such as education is characterised by long completion times and high attrition rates when compared to science‐related fields. This paper reports on a project which established a collaborative group of postgraduate students and supervisors in a Faculty of Education to explore issues related to postgraduate supervision. Comments from students suggested that they perceived postgraduate research as an experience for which they were ill‐prepared. They contrasted postgraduate study with undergraduate study in terms of the degree of structure provided, the sense of isolation experienced, the resources available for assistance and the changed power relationships. The paper suggests that the move to postgraduate research is a form of transition which is particularly problematical for candidates in fields such as education.