Influence of access and efficiency on MPhil education students’ supervision: The mediating role of supervisory quality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51867/AQSSR.3.4.66Keywords:
access, Supervision, students, Supervision,Abstract
his study examined the impact of access and efficiency on the supervision of MPhil Education students at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). With quality as a mediating variable. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and Social Exchange Theory (SET) anchored on this study as its theoretical perspective. This study's foundation was built on a positivist paradigm, a quantitative approach, and a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 123 postgraduate students through adapted instruments measuring Access (AC), Quality (QU), Efficiency (EF), and Supervision (SN). PLS SEM was employed to test hypothesised relationships. Results discovered moderate levels across all constructs. Access had a small positive effect on efficiency (β = 0.222, p = .006) but no direct effect on supervision, and efficiency did not affect supervision either. Quality was the only significant direct predictor of supervision (β = 0.886, p < .001). Access reduced quality sharply (β = −0.786, p < .001), so quality fully mediated the effect of access on supervision, and that indirect effect was negative (β = −0.696). The model explained 54.5% of the variance in supervision. These findings suggest that widening access without matching supervisory capacity may weaken the relational quality on which good supervision depends, although overlap among access, quality and efficiency means the paths should be read cautiously. Departments expanding access should monitor supervisory quality through anonymous student feedback, review supervisor workloads, train supervisors in feedback and relationship building, and avoid treating turnaround time as the main measure of good supervision.
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