Work Supervision for Master’s Degree Students in Management in the Social and Health Care Field

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Work supervision in the social and health care field is examined through a university supervisor training pilot targeting master’s degree students in management (N=30). The study investigates how group supervision supports college students, what benefits students gain, and how supervision can be further developed. Students were organized into teams of 4–6 with five meetings over six months, receiving guidance from one work supervisor. Findings indicate successful team formation, strengthened class spirit and commitment, and highlight the need for careful planning, structure, and an active supervisory role emphasizing dialogue.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Purpose and pilot implementation

Supervision concepts and confidentiality

Prior research in Finland

Findings and development needs

Work Supervision for Master’s Degree Students in Management in the Social and Health Care Field By Hannele Laaksonen􀀍 & Seija Ollila􀁲 This study targets university students of development and management in the social and health care field, and its goals were to discover 1) how does group supervision suit supporting college students, 2) what benefits can students receive from supervision and 3) how can group supervision be developed? The Tampere University of Applied Sciences’ supervisor training program piloted a supervision program for master’s degree students (N=30) in management in September 2021. The purpose of the study was to chart the possibilities of supervision in advancing students’ team formation and commitment to their studies. The master's students in management were divided into teams of 4-6 people and each team was supervised by one work supervisor. There were five team meetings during the six months. The supervisor trainees could practice their skills while the master’s students could process feelings related to their studies and receive peer support in their challenges. The results show that team formation was successful and deepened during the process. The supervision received by individual teams affected the entire group’s class spirit and commitment. Developing the contents of supervision should focus on good planning, structure and initiation. The supervisor’s role was emphasized in development, particularly their approach, activity and reinforcing dialogue between participants. Based on the positive experiences, collaboration between the supervisor training and master’s students will be continued and developed further. Keywords: work supervision, Master’s student, team commitment, team spirit, Finland Introduction Work supervision (henceforth supervision) started in the 1920s in the American social care field. It arrived in Finland in the 1950s, and became established in social care, the health care field and within the Lutheran church. Currently supervision is used in many fields in developing and supporting work, workplace communities and management work. Its forms include individual, group, workplace and peer supervision (Cutcliffe et al., 2011; Fowler & Cutcliffe, 2011) . Many scholars have tried to define supervision, but finding an exact unambiguous definition is challenging, as it can be understood as both a tool and a method, as well as a service and a profession (Cutcliffe et al., 2011) . Supervision has emerged from practice and been influenced by many sciences, such as health care, social psychology and various theories of personality, interaction and organization. Supervision is thus considered a reflective learning process based on interaction between the supervisor 􀀍Principal Lecturer, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland. 􀁲Docent, Master-CSLE, Supervisor, [www.soconsulting.fi](www.soconsulting.fi), Finland. and supervisee. The supervisee’s work and its assessment are key to the process. Supervision is not about the supervisor training or teaching the supervisee (Hyrkäset al., 2005). Rather, the supervisee learns new and meaningful things about their work and work experiences in collaboration with other members of the workplace community and the supervisor (Niemelä, 2019, pp. 57, 64). As a process, supervision thus requires both time and processing matters together. Supervision is always confidential communication between the supervisor and supervisee, in which the supervisor respects the supervisee’s expertise in their own work. The supervisor’s role is to help the supervisee discover new perspectives on matters important to them. The supervisor is not meant to give ready-made answersand solutions but will help the supervisee process matters through their expertise (Kivinen, 2018, p. 54). Ethics are a central part of supervision. The supervisee’s situation may be very sensitive and delicate, which requires ethical skills and professional communication skill

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To map the possibilities of supervision for advancing master’s students’ team formation and commitment to their studies.

How was group supervision implemented in the pilot program?

Master’s students were divided into teams of 4–6, each supervised by a work supervisor, with five team meetings over six months.

What do the results suggest about team outcomes and supervision development?

Team formation was successful and deepened, and supervision influenced class spirit and commitment. Developing supervision should focus on good planning, structure, initiation, and an emphasized supervisory role through dialogue.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa