4 ms·

I guess he means with protections provided by employment laws, as there are no laws mandating protections such as annual leave for students? I think extending e

I guess he means with protections provided by employment laws, as there are no laws mandating protections such as annual leave for students? I think extending employment laws to cover graduate students or setup additional laws might be more appropriate.

chrisseaton 4y ago
> there are no laws mandating protections such as annual leave for students? Did I have an unusually permissive advisor or something? My advisor didn’t control my leave - it was up to me to manage my time.
- pca006132 4y ago
  I have heard that there are some supervisors abusing their students, pushing for progress and insulting them when the progress is not ideal, or even assign tasks unrelated to their research (projects from their company?). Effectively their supervisors are controlling their leave. I guess the current situation really depends on supervisor, so it would be nice if there are laws for students' basic right.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    Yeah a third way - if the problem is they're being treated like employees then let's not double-down and legally make them employees.
- xavxav 4y ago
  It also depends on where you did your thesis in the first place. The UK has stronger protections for grad students than the US (not hard to do). In any case it shouldn't be up to whether you had a permissive advisor or not, PhD students like everyone deserve time off, and without legal protections that always gets abused.
- light_hue_1 4y ago
  > Did I have an unusually permissive advisor or something? My advisor didn’t control my leave - it was up to me to manage my time. You indeed have a nice advisor. Some advisors are hard people who manage their student's time at 3am on a Saturday. Or who insist on 14 hour days. Students under these people (let's face it, they're not working with them, they're under them) have no good options. I know many such students. Some universities are particularly prone to such behavior from faculty. I warn all of my undergrad students to go visit labs at 7-8pm and see how happy people are to be there before accepting an offer.

chrisseaton 4y ago

> there are no laws mandating protections such as annual leave for students? Did I have an unusually permissive advisor or something? My advisor didn’t control my leave - it was up to me to manage my time.

pca006132 4y ago
I have heard that there are some supervisors abusing their students, pushing for progress and insulting them when the progress is not ideal, or even assign tasks unrelated to their research (projects from their company?). Effectively their supervisors are controlling their leave. I guess the current situation really depends on supervisor, so it would be nice if there are laws for students' basic right.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  Yeah a third way - if the problem is they're being treated like employees then let's not double-down and legally make them employees.
xavxav 4y ago
It also depends on where you did your thesis in the first place. The UK has stronger protections for grad students than the US (not hard to do). In any case it shouldn't be up to whether you had a permissive advisor or not, PhD students like everyone deserve time off, and without legal protections that always gets abused.
light_hue_1 4y ago
> Did I have an unusually permissive advisor or something? My advisor didn’t control my leave - it was up to me to manage my time. You indeed have a nice advisor. Some advisors are hard people who manage their student's time at 3am on a Saturday. Or who insist on 14 hour days. Students under these people (let's face it, they're not working with them, they're under them) have no good options. I know many such students. Some universities are particularly prone to such behavior from faculty. I warn all of my undergrad students to go visit labs at 7-8pm and see how happy people are to be there before accepting an offer.