Dental hygiene faculty perspectives on thesis advising in graduate education

There is little research regarding dental hygiene faculty perspectives on advising graduate students through the thesis process. This study explored dental hygiene faculty's experiences when advising DH graduate students through the thesis process and understanding their perspectives on the factors impacting completion of the thesis.

This qualitative phenomenological research study utilized virtual focus groups with a purposive sample of graduate DH thesis advisors (n = 18) from institutions with a thesis-based Master of Science degree. A deductive analysis method was implemented based on six main topics (advisor's roles, advisor expectations of advisee, advisee challenges, student support strategies, institutional polices and resources, and academic workload and benefits of the advisor role) in the literature using qualitative analysis software.

Main emergent themes included being a co-investigator and supervisor of the advisee research process; expectations of advisee to respect the advisor's time and effort; expectation advisee understand the demands of a thesis; advisees challenges included self-doubt and balancing of responsibilities; need to develop the advisor/advisee relationship and trust with advisee; and university policies and the availability of resources impact on the thesis completion.

Dental Hygiene thesis advisors reported incorporation of many strategies to execute their role. The thesis process is unique to every student; however, the advisor's comprehensive problem-solving skills and the student's perseverance collectively facilitate the completion of the thesis. Institutional policies, other resources, and the increase in workload are potential barriers for Dental Hygiene thesis advisors and require advocating on behalf of their advisee for on-time thesis completion.