Graduate Student Advisement in Addis Ababa University: Perceived Level of Advising and Advisor Credibility in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies

Abstract

Graduate education is a postgraduate program characterized by a learning environment that is less structured, more individualized, and independent. Ingrained in this program are opportunities for students to pass through mentoring and supervision experiences that are developmentally organized to uplift them from a state of dependency to autonomy. However, the way these opportunities are organized is far from uniform across universities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the core component of graduate education (graduate student advisement) that appeared to significantly impact on quality in higher education. It specifically attempted to examine perceived level of advising and advisor credibility (competence, character, and caring) with a sample of 77 graduate students in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University. Eight additional participants were also drawn from all relevant stakeholders (students, advisors/ internal examiners, an external examiner, and department chair) to secure more recent data for triangulation. Data were collected using McCroskey and Teven‟s (1999) Credibility Measure; Wrench and Punyanunt‟s (2004) „Graduate Student‟s Mentoring Scale and Berk and colleagues‟ (2005) Mentorship Effectiveness Scale. Qualitative data were also collected through interviewing eight concerned individuals. Findings indicated that graduate advisees had negative perception of their advisors‟ credibility (i.e. competence, caring and character) and reported a low level advising from their thesis or dissertation advisors. A strong and positive correlation was found between advisees‟ perception of advisor credibility and level of advising obtained. It was also found that the combined predictive efficacy of all the three dimensions of credibility (competence, caring and character) measures was significant. However, the independent contribution of only two of the credibility dimensions (competence and caring) was significant. Finally, implications of the findings were discussed.