Malaysia

In the early phases of doctoral education in Malaysia, doctoral students were customarily supervised by a single academic. However, as the country’s education system has progressed and diversified, co-supervision has become increasingly popular, particularly in interdisciplinary fields requiring multiple supervisors’ expertise. The Malaysian Qualifications Agency now mandates that Higher Education Providers implement a comprehensive supervisor training program that covers roles, responsibilities, policies, and rules governing higher education. This training also addresses the interpersonal challenges of dealing with individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and educational levels. To ensure effective co-supervision, universities have outlined general guidelines for roles and responsibilities but have yet to establish specific or separate roles for primary and co-supervisors. In Malaysia, co-supervision is widely recognised as an active learning component of doctoral studies, particularly for novice supervisors. Co-supervisors participate in supervision sessions with the main supervisors and contribute their knowledge. While debates about doctoral co-supervision exist, the benefits of co-supervision are clear. However, concerns about potential rivalries between co-supervisors, student autonomy, authorship, and the quality of research must be taken into account.