Negotiating Power
Learning to do qualitative research that is grounded in a critical perspective can be a turbulent time for graduate students and supervisors. The influence of power is omnipresent and can create significant problems for graduate student experiences. This article uses the graduate thesis research experience of one student and supervisor dyad to highlight the relational factors that we found to support learning: vulnerability, trust, and patience. For our dyad, negotiating the power structures surrounding us was one strategy that helped foster the development of a critical qualitative researcher. The relational factors that characterized our student-supervisor relationship, similar to those in the critical qualitative research process, provided a basis for discussion and growth through a graduate thesis in a nursing program.