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I'm happy to read Huixiang's text, in that they are clear in explaining his PIs transgressions. I'm in a similar situation where my PI is threatening to kick me

I'm happy to read Huixiang's text, in that they are clear in explaining his PIs transgressions. I'm in a similar situation where my PI is threatening to kick me out of the lab or fail me after 5 years in the program after bringing him data better than all of his last 5 students combined. So I definitely know where the ECE candidate is coming from. But the PhD candidate needed to step away from his data/project and instead familiarize himself with his options. Or befriend someone who could. This is really where hyper specialization breaks down, in that you get the "free rider" problem of people abusing the process (e.g. congressman) to parasite and bastardize others work. Now the PhD student has to become a master in a second subject (the law) to preserve the huge investment in the first subject (science). Needless to say, this ends badly a lot of the time. It's worth pointing out that as a foreigner, he was even more isolated than an American student. Because I myself have received stellar advice from graduate student Union professionals from a university in a state far away. This student likely has several barriers, cultural and others, keeping him from effeciently defending his rights. Think about this the next time you hear about academia's obsession with foreign students

sjg007 7y ago
Some Universities have an international student academic dean for grad students. There will also be a Dean of graduate students too. You might ask them for help. Each department is also supposed to have a chair of graduate student advising as well, so if that isn't your PI you might ask them. There is no shame in asking for help.
- 4u9u5t 7y ago
  Things are not that simple, I learned it the hard way: Professors are given too much power of treating PhD students in their labs. They can cut your financial support, kick you out of PhD program (after 4,5,6 years) with some good reasons 'unproductive performance'. Deans usually don't want to get deep involved into such issues. From their perspectives, other professors are their coworkers, and will be seen for a long time. While PhD students just come and go, for people with less integrity, PhD students don't matter that much. As long as the professor doesn't cross the borderline, they are totally fine. Life for a international PhD student is even worse. They forsake their home country life, families and friends to pursue this academic research path. They cannot easily just quit and find a job in U.S. due to the visa issue. (OPT time has a strict timing requirement for application, for most PhD students, once getting their master degree, they will lose the eligibility of OPT application) Big tips for international PhD students, don't get your master degree just because you gain enough credits. Save it when you need an exit plan. After 3-4 years, the sunk cost and difficult visa status can make the international students get stuck there.
olliej 7y ago
The problem is that “stepping away” can alone have consequences - for international students the potential downside is massive. I vaguely recall that for some people the visa is terminated essentially the moment that they cease being a student - would you want to be a foreigner in America with an expired visa today? Maybe it’s fine for most, but what if you were a Mexican student - that clearly puts you in line for a concentration camp, would you risk it? And this kid had already done everything he was meant to, why would they think anything else would work?

sjg007 7y ago

Some Universities have an international student academic dean for grad students. There will also be a Dean of graduate students too. You might ask them for help. Each department is also supposed to have a chair of graduate student advising as well, so if that isn't your PI you might ask them. There is no shame in asking for help.

4u9u5t 7y ago
Things are not that simple, I learned it the hard way: Professors are given too much power of treating PhD students in their labs. They can cut your financial support, kick you out of PhD program (after 4,5,6 years) with some good reasons 'unproductive performance'. Deans usually don't want to get deep involved into such issues. From their perspectives, other professors are their coworkers, and will be seen for a long time. While PhD students just come and go, for people with less integrity, PhD students don't matter that much. As long as the professor doesn't cross the borderline, they are totally fine. Life for a international PhD student is even worse. They forsake their home country life, families and friends to pursue this academic research path. They cannot easily just quit and find a job in U.S. due to the visa issue. (OPT time has a strict timing requirement for application, for most PhD students, once getting their master degree, they will lose the eligibility of OPT application) Big tips for international PhD students, don't get your master degree just because you gain enough credits. Save it when you need an exit plan. After 3-4 years, the sunk cost and difficult visa status can make the international students get stuck there.

olliej 7y ago

The problem is that “stepping away” can alone have consequences - for international students the potential downside is massive. I vaguely recall that for some people the visa is terminated essentially the moment that they cease being a student - would you want to be a foreigner in America with an expired visa today? Maybe it’s fine for most, but what if you were a Mexican student - that clearly puts you in line for a concentration camp, would you risk it? And this kid had already done everything he was meant to, why would they think anything else would work?