How supervisors affect students' academic gains and research ability: An investigation through a qualitative study

A supervisory system is an essential part of higher education and plays a vital role in cultivating the high-level talents needed for high-quality national development and social progress. This study aims to determine how supervisors affect students' academic gains and research ability. This study used a qualitative research method to select 10 postgraduate students and their 7 supervisors for in-depth interviews from May to July 2022. This study aims to address the following questions: 1. What are the modes of supervisor-student communication? 2. What impact do these modes have on students? 3. What factors affect these modes? Three discoveries were made in this study. When supervisors and students communicate only regarding the academic content and students tend to fully follow supervisors' instructions, students obtain more academic output in the short term but lack autonomy. When supervisors and students discuss academic issues and life trifles equally, it helps in promoting students' comprehensive quality. When students do not have much contact with their supervisors and they get along like strangers, it is beneficial to cultivate students' intellectual independence, but students grow slowly. The factors influencing the communication modes include the supervisors' educational philosophy, postgraduate learning attitude, and supervisory system. In conclusion, the three communication modes can coexist together in a group of students led by the same supervisor. Whether a communication mode can promote the growth of students depends on the awakening of the students' self-awareness, and the supervisory system is the most implicit factor underlying communication.