Training supervisors to be committee members

In today’s poll, I want to learn about how supervisors are trained to participate in defenses. So if you are a supervisor, this poll is for you #academicchatter #phdchat . Did you receive training related to doctoral defenses?

— Dr Eva Lantsoght (@evalantsoght) March 18, 2021

I recently ran a poll to see if any supervisors received training to participate in defenses – either on preparing the student, how to ask questions, adhering to protocol, or any other elements of the defense. While the number of responses was low, I was surprised to see that none of those who voted received training.

Since the PhD defense has its social, cultural, and emotional levels attached to it, preparing supervisors may be a good idea. Particularly those supervisors who will be participating in a defense that is in a format unknown to them (with the written and unwritten rules that go with it), may benefit from a workshop that addresses this.

What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear them!