One factor that distinguishes academia here is that the power imbalance can be far greater compared to employees in a regular company. As a regular employee the

One factor that distinguishes academia here is that the power imbalance can be far greater compared to employees in a regular company. As a regular employee the worst case is usually just losing your job. A PhD student has much higher stakes, as you're potentially risking years of effort and your degree. A direct conflict with your adviser is not something you want to risk, as it can easily put you in a terrible situation. You also can't just switch departments or something like that without losing a lot of progress, if it is possible at all. The way science is structured makes it rather susceptible to abuse by people in authority, and it inherently discourages challenges by PhD students.