Young, Sara; Buchanan, Denise; Girling, Agnes; (2025) Supervising sensitive Masters dissertation research: challenges and mitigation strategies. Higher Education Research & Development 10.1080/07294360.2025.2462022. (In press).

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Abstract

An understanding of who is affected by involvement in sensitive research has recently undergone closer examination. While the emotional risk to participants is widely acknowledged, scholars argue that emotional care should be extended to everyone in a research team. Yet work in this area presupposes that those who explore sensitive topics are already familiar with the field, and are to some extent prepared for the material they encounter. In the contemporary UK university, however, academics are required to supervise Masters level student projects in areas where they are not specialised, including sensitive themes. This paper provides a unique perspective in reflecting on the experience of a supervisor working with a Masters student on a dissertation exploring narratives of sexual violence, a field outside the supervisor’s academic specialism. Drawing on the theory of emotional labour, as applied to academic supervisory work, we discuss the project’s challenges, how it was approached, and what can be learned from this. Thus we make a significant contribution to literature on Masters supervision, highlighting the need for greater attention to be paid when allocating dissertation supervisors, and calling for more robust support for those working with students on sensitive research.

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