Agency and mentoring strategies: Master of Education students writing for publication

Abstract

Research on writing for publication in higher education typically involves doctoral students; how Master’s students may write for publication is little known. For Master’s students studying in a fast-track, coursework-based programme, writing for publication may seem to have less relevance. This is no longer true, in light of the immensely diverse backgrounds and career goals of the Master’s students, and the ever-rising aspirations of the rapidly expanding Master’s programmes in many parts of the world. To understand how Master’s students exercise their agency in writing for publication, we conducted a multi-case study with six ESL students who had each published an English journal article from their dissertation research in a Master of Education (MEd) programme in a university in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews with the students and their common supervisor were conducted, and relevant texts were gathered. It was found that these students all demonstrated an academic commitment and were mentored by the supervisor throughout their research and publication processes. Our study will have implications for research training targeting Taught Postgraduate (TPg) students, while suggesting a number of directions for future research.