Mentoring and the doctoral experience of Asian arts educators in western universities

The attrition rates of doctoral students in Australia, British, and North American universities average between 30% and 50% depending on the disciplines (McAlpin and Norton, 2006). In Australia, the satisfaction ratings of supervisors were about 54% for part-time and 64% for ull-time doctoral students (Harman, 2002). While some studies have identified the difficulties encountered by minority students, research into completion rates have largely failed to recognise or differentiate the diverse experiences of minority groups. This paper reports on the doctoral experiences of fourteen Asian arts educators who have undertaken research training in British, American and Australian universities, and who currently work in the Asian tertiary sector. It presents their perspectives on the key roles played by their supervisors in their doctoral journey, the special qualities of supervisors that impressed/appealed to them, and their experience of mentoring, an important component of the supervision process (Shannon, 1995). Information presented here represents a portion of the total survey and interview data from a larger study. Survey data revealed that few doctoral supervisors acted as mentors to help participants get papers published and model sound management of communications in the research process. Overall, participants regarded their doctoral experience to be a positive one.