Journey into leadership - Equipping PhD supervisors for socially safe supervising.

The University of Groningen is committed to creating a working and learning environment in which everyone feels welcome and at home. To achieve this, there are several programmes, courses, workshops, and initiatives related to social safety. In Social Safety Stories, we like to highlight some of them and the people who run them. In this edition, Senior Learning & Development Specialist Anna Salzano shares why training PhD supervisors is an important aspect of embedding social safety within the UG. For both the PhDs and the supervisors themselves. 

Leadership dynamics

There are different aspects of Anna’s job, but the main one is developing, coordinating and delivering trainings and workshops. Her area of expertise is academic leadership and PhD supervision, but she’s also working on developing trainings for support staff in leadership positions. One of the main throughlines in her work is improving the way people in leadership roles take on and fulfill those roles. ‘Having a leadership role - whether it is a supervisor or manager, means taking responsibility for another person. It also requires awareness of power dynamics,’ she explains. What she does is not teaching or educating, though. The right words are important to her. Instead, she likes to frame it as training and developing. 'I'm not telling them how to do it; we’re finding the right ways together.’

Supervising course

To be able to supervise PhDs, supervisors-to-be need to follow some training on how to effectively and safely do so. When Anna started at HR&Health 5 years ago, she was hired specifically to develop such a course. Part of the job description was also developing the MOOC (massive open online course), Successful PhD Supervision: A Shared Journey. The MOOC is the basis of the qualification. After the MOOC they follow three workshops to further deepen their knowledge. There are a total of 12 workshops, related to different parts of the supervising process. The workshops focus on practical things, like selecting the right candidate, the go/no-go conversation. Others focus on the relationship between PhD and supervisor: coaching, feedback, and social safety. And others dive into the supervisors themselves: Who are they, what are their values, and what is their leadership style? The workshops are done in small groups and are mostly focused on practicing certain conversations, discussing cases, and giving feedback. This is the third year the programme runs, and so far about 300 people have gone through it.

Improving the circumstances 

This training is very important, says Anna. ‘On one hand, the PhDs are the most vulnerable ones. They are dependent on their supervisor, who, in a way, holds their future in their hands,’ she explains. ‘So it’s important that these new supervisors are aware of that and know how to supervise them properly. Even if my focus is the supervisors, really the aim is to improve the circumstances for the PhDs,’ she continues. 

Journey into leadership

At the same time, the supervisors are usually junior researchers, so they themselves are at the start of their careers. Anna adds: ‘When they start supervising a PhD, it’s the first time they are responsible for another person. It’s really the start of their journey into leadership.’ Of course, they have been on the other side of the equation, probably not even that long ago, but according to Anna, the transition to leadership can be messy. 'When people start to work together, that might be all fine, but if problems arise because things were not agreed upon beforehand, it can become a real problem,’ she explains. And when things are not said because they are difficult, socially unsafe situations might arise. ‘We help them set expectations and bring the things to the table, talk about boundaries, communication, and how to manage emotions and feelings, Anna continues. ‘And once you start with talking about these things, it’s easier to address them later on.’ Anna’s main point is that she wants supervisors to be aware of the weight that they hold. ‘Not all academics want to be managers, but that is what they become when they supervise PhDs. And it’s in everyone's best interest that we equip them with the skills and awareness on how to do it in the safest way for everyone.’

Here you’ll find more information about the Social Safety Programme and the support the University of Groningen can offer you.