Evaluation of graduate student's satisfaction from thesis supervision in Babol Faculty of Dentistry

Students’ satisfaction of their supervisor is very important in the process of writing a thesis; while satisfaction is present, favorable outcomes could be expected. This study compared graduate students’ satisfaction of their supervisors from various departments. In this descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2013, 90 graduate students who had entered Babol Faculty of Dentistry in 2004, 2005 and 2006 were studied. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed by SPSS using descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean age of the participants was 28.4 (SD=6.76) and 42.2% were male. Mean satisfaction score was 28.3±6.3 (out of 36). There was no significant difference among levels of participants’ satisfaction based on their entrance years. The married participants revealed higher satisfaction compared to the singles (p=0.05). The relationship between students’ satisfaction and their course duration was inversely significant (p=0.04). The participants’ satisfaction was not associated with their age, sex, total grade point average (GPA), thesis score, and their supervisors’ education and research history. No significant difference observed among the students’ satisfaction with supervisors from different departments (p=0.58). Reinforcing supervision skills by performing suitable workshops providing a clear role description for faculty members and their students can improve the students'' perspectives and theses presentation quality.