Unpacking the psycho-social tensions in cross-race doctoral supervision: a co-constructed autoethnographic exploration

This article adopts a psycho-social framework to explore the complexities of cross-race doctoral supervision through the reflective accounts of a Black female academic and a White female academic. It scrutinises the tensions, defences and incongruities that surface in cross-race encounters, highlighting often-overlooked anxieties rooted in colonial legacies. Emphasising the need to confront racial dynamics, the article advocates for the integration of diverse epistemologies into doctoral programmes to address epistemic injustices. Employing co-constructed autoethnography, the authors examine ‘raced moments’ in cross-race doctoral supervision and tentatively introduce the concept of a ‘racially reflexive third space’. This incorporated supervisory praxis in cross-race supervision aims to deepen understanding of race-related dynamics in academia – fostering contextualised hyper-reflexivity. By challenging traditional supervision models and engaging with existing power structures, it contributes to the decolonisation of educational spaces.