14 THE SCIENTIST | the-scientist.com
CRITIC AT LARGEP
rofessors are managers. They man-
age projects, classes, and often per-
sonnel, many of whom are graduate
students. Some advisor/advisee relation-
ships are positive and very productive.
Others can be downright destructive.
Unsurprisingly, this variability pro-
duces some graduates who are confident
critical thinkers, while others have their
educations and careers derailed by a shock-
ingly common poor professional relation-
ship. Witnessing wildly different advising
experiences while in graduate school, we
talked with a dozen university colleagues
and friends in North America and Europe
to identify common problems as well as
potential solutions. Through informal con-
versations, we gathered viewpoints from
current and former graduate students
of diverse races, ethnicities, and genders
across academic disciplines.
Poor graduate student/advisor expe-
riences can largely be chalked up to one
thing: there are few specific expectations
or standards for professors when it comes
to managing their graduate students. This
needs to change. Adopting basic principles
for good management will enhance pro-
ductivity, promote higher-impact research,
and boost graduate student mental health.
Some people we spoke with had won-
derful advisor/advisee relationships, but
others had conflicts, which at best held
these students back from making mean-
ingful progress toward their degrees, and
at worst caused them to leave their pro-
grams. Some students were suffocated by
extreme micromanagement. Others had
advisors who did not even ask what their
research interests were when they started
their graduate program, let alone give
them any guidance on navigating program
requirements. Regardless of the person-
alities involved, a productive professional
relationship can be established by settingclear expectations for both professor and
student from the beginning and creating
formal opportunities to discuss and revise
these expectations.
Our colleagues and friends also broadly
agreed that poor management is partly
responsible for the mental health crisis
plaguing graduate students, who are six
times as likely to experience depression
and anxiety compared with the general
population. Unsurprisingly, feeling valued
at work leads to better physical and mental
health. Widespread belief by graduate stu-
dents that they are imposters, undeserving
of their achievements, adds to this prob-lem, as it makes some students less willing
to reach out to their advisors for help for
fear of being perceived as incompetent.
Institutional changes focused on
improving advisor/advisee relationships,
such as taking graduate students’ ratings
of their advisor into account during profes-
sional reviews, could also help to incentiv-
ize faculty to develop their managerial skills.
Highly innovative companies, including
Google, recognize the benefits of good man-
agement. Executives at the internet search
giant found that effective managers create
a more productive work environment. We
combined key managerial behaviors that MODIFIED FROM: © ISTOCK.COM, FANDSRABUTAN, © ISTOCK.COM, OLEKSANDRA KLESTOVARethinking professional expectations for professors and graduate studentsBY ANGELA E. BOAG & NATHALIE ISABELLE CHARDONMay I Speak to a Manager?