Supervisory support, work values, and commitment to scientific research among Business doctoral students

Resumo

This study aimed to examine the relationship between doctoral supervisors’ support and business doctoral students’ commitment to scientific research, as mediated by work values. Examining supervisory support through the lens of Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) provides insights into how contextual factors, such as supervisory support, and personal factors, such as work values, influence commitment to scientific research. By simultaneously integrating these elements, the study highlights the underlying mediating mechanisms and reinforces the supervisor’s role as a facilitator of students’ academic development. The relevance of this topic lies in understanding supervisory support as a factor that influences doctoral students’ commitment to research, thereby contributing to the scientific advancement of the business field. Such support is associated with students’ motivation, well-being, and personal and professional development, while also shaping their work values. Supervisory support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as proposed by BPNT, provides a reflective framework for graduate programs to develop guidelines that reconcile scientific productivity with students’ psychological needs, thereby enhancing supervisory outcomes. Using a quantitative approach, data from 503 business doctoral students were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that supervisory support constitutes an important contextual factor in strengthening business doctoral students’ commitment to scientific research. Competence support has a direct and positive effect on research commitment, whereas relatedness support exerts an indirect effect through intrinsic work values. These findings provide valuable insights for improving supervisory practices and fostering academic environments that better support the development of developing researchers.