Advising Graduate Students Doing Community-Engaged Dissertation Research: The Advisor-Advisee Relationship

A critical dimension in the development of emerging community-engaged scholars is the advisor-advisee relationship during the student's doctoral degree program. A qualitative study of four doctoral students interested in doing community-engaged dissertation research, and their advisors, identified five characteristics of such relationships: (1) background and experience matter; (2) faculty advisors and advisees are co-learners; (3) the advisor-advisee relationship can approach a synergistic state; (4) faculty advisors often serve as interpreters and interveners; and (5) community-engaged dissertation studies often lack "structural" support. The findings suggest two practical steps for faculty advisors to take when mentoring doctoral students who are doing community-engaged dissertation studies: (1) be sensitive to, and learn from, the community experience of one's advisees, and (2) intentionally model mutuality and reciprocity.