ABSTRACT
This case study examines how international doctoral students and their supervisors perceive supervision, the relations between supervisors and the doctoral students, and the impact of learning Chinese language on their doctoral studies as well as on their identity development in a Chinese university against the background of internationalization of higher education in China. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with seven doctoral students and their supervisors. Each interview lasted up to one hour and was transcribed and analyzed thematically. Analysis shows that Chinese language proficiency is crucial for the international students’ success in their doctoral studies, and that apart from formal supervision, informal enculturation through social and academic networks – the “tongmen” – plays an important role in supervision and in socializing the doctoral researchers into the community of practice. The study adds to the field a new case from a specific epistemological and intellectual tradition and challenges existing theories about methods and concepts of supervision.
