I did my upgrade some weeks ago, and I was asked to submit two chapters of my thesis so that it can be used to judge my ability to complete a PhD to doctoral standard. My problem with that is the panel members asked me to submit the chapters to my supervisors to judge my abilities, rather than to them (panel). I thought it was the panel members that should make this final decision. I have since submitted the chapters to the supervisors, and anytime I ask for a feedback they keep saying they haven't reached a decision yet. Is it appropriate for supervisors to be the ones to determine the outcome of the upgrade process from MPhil to PhD, has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Please, can anyone offer advice on the way forward, as the long wait for an outcome is beginning to have a toll on my wellbeing?

Yes I think it's appropriate for supervisors to make this decision. At my uni it's panel members, but I think there's pros and cons to both approaches.

How long have you been waiting?

Hi,
I have been waiting for close to 4months now. In my university handbook, it says the panel members should make recommendations but doesn't exclude/include supervisors explicitly.
They asked for a meeting with me some days ago, I was under the impression this would be about the upgrade, but it was not. They were discussing instead other things about me that weren't part of the criteria specified by the upgrade panel e.g.
1) Communication skills, that I don't understand their feedback, and my response to this was that they usually aren't specific about what they want.

2) English language skills. I am an international student so English is not my first language, but am already attending tutorials organised by my school for international students. Although they seemed pleased that I recognised a problem and am working to address this, they were also ambiguous in their response as they expressed concerns about why I should still need help with my writing. The univ recognises that English is a problem for int. students which was why the service was created, why then shouldn't I make maximum use of this opportunity. For me, this represents an example of their non-specific feedbacks because right now am not too sure if they want me to stop attending tutorials to improve my English

3) level of interaction with other students/researchers. They felt my interaction wasn't sufficient, even though I have demonstrated my ability to identify and engage with researchers in my network. An evidence of this is that based on my correspondence with a researcher in my field the person has agreed to collaborate with me on some parts of my project and is willing to travel down to my location to do this.

The upgrade panel stated that I should demonstrate my leadership skills by writing those chapters without help from my supervisors and then submitting it to my supervisors for assessment. I have since done this, but I get a sense that they are including their own personal criteria to assess this.

Hmm I see what you mean, four months is a very long time to wait.

It does sound a bit odd, especially regarding concerns about your English, as it seems perfectly fine to me.

I wonder if it could be something in your approach that they don't like. Do you think you could be coming across as defensive or challenging? I expect when they give you feedback they just want you to nod along and not question it, because they know best (according to them). Regarding the level of interaction, maybe it's something that you're not doing that they want you to do, e.g. attending seminars, socialising with other students, being helpful to your lab group etc.

Could you ask your head of year or pastoral support team for advice?

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I guess it should be my approach, they think am not showing enough enthusiasm and they want me to mix up more with other students. They want me to talk more at meetings. They also want me to challenge their views but in earlier supervisory meetings where I did this or made suggestions based on my prior research experience about a particular method we should use, my opinion wasn't regarded. At times I would be told to go and find out from certain methodology experts and those experts still end up making the exact recommendations which I initially made, they don't acknowledge that I also said the same thing, or trust my opinions better. This was why I finally decided they should have their way instead, but now it seems that's also a problem, I can't seem to get it right with them.

I attend research events, but they just recently pointed out in this last meeting that they expected me to report back to them after every event or interaction to tell them what I learnt. But why wait for me to be halfway through a PhD before pointing this out.

They have also mentioned that my meeting agenda is not detailed enough, that they weren't expecting bullet points of issues, that I should provide more detail in this. My initial understanding of what an agenda means is that it should be bullet points of issues I want them to discuss, but if that isn't what they wanted, they had about 1.5yrs to say this but they didn't, and they waited to this moment to flag up such issues.

I have contacted both the student union and the doctoral college with regards to the upgrade process, I am yet to receive a response. I have also booked a meeting with the research manager to see what he thinks. Am also thinking of including all this in my progress report so the school is aware of the issues am facing.

I also didn't think my English was a major issue until I met my supervisors. It took the help of the staff at the English service and multiple reassurances from them to restore my confidence with regards to this.

I would advise you to just basically do what they are telling you, even if you think it's pointless. Try to ignore the fact that they are disregarding your opinions. Some people just always think they know best. Basically, you can't change these people, you can only change your own reactions to them.

You can include it in your progress report, but bear in mind that this will annoy your supervisors further. I've seen it happen many times.

Just do what they are asking of you, then sit tight and wait at this stage.