Areas of Research

Supervising degrees

Working with this supervisor

I have prior experience supervising Ph.D. (6) and Master's students (25), which I gained while working as an Associate Professor at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan (international research university). All of my students were non-native speakers of English, so I am familiar with the challenges ESL students may experience in the process of writing their theses and dissertations, as well as with the challenges these students may have when applying for further graduate education and employment. I am particularly strong at advising on methodological/theoretical aspects of theses/dissertations, as well as on structuring one's writing. I have also helped many of my students in making sense of their career pathways. In this sense, my experience and approaches to supervision might be beneficial not only for ESL and international students, but also for native speakers of English and born Canadians.

While most of my research has been conducted in Kazakhstan and other countries of the former Soviet Union, my recent work has focused on immigrant and refugee student experiences in Canada and I would be excited to accept students interested in Canadian topics.

As a scholar conducting research on doctoral students, I try to create a variety of opportunities for my students to prepare them for academic careers. All of my former students worked with me on funded research projects, participated in writing scholarly papers and co-presented our collaborative work at international conferences. Many of my students were full-time professionals, so I am familiar with the challenges such students face and have some developed some support strategies.

What I seek in my students is excitement about the process of learning and research, initiative, ability to maintain regular communication, assume responsibility for their own learning while being open to guidance and advice on my part, basic skills in organization and team work. I enjoy working with graduate students for the opportunity to learn from them and to work on collaborative project. My best collaborators have been from among my students. They inspired me to pursue new directions in my research and motivated me to persist despite difficulties.