3 ms·
A long time ago I was given an opportunity to spend some time working at a lab in a foreign university. I was invited to explore the possibility of doing a PhD
by avian 4y ago
A long time ago I was given an opportunity to spend some time working at a lab in a foreign university. I was invited to explore the possibility of doing a PhD there and got an appointment with a professor that might have become my PhD supervisor.
When I got to that appointment someone was already in his office. The professor invited me in, but told me to sit and wait until they finish with the other student. He then proceeded to berate the guy in front of me. He used no kind words. Told him his work on the PhD thesis was completely incompetent, he wasted his years and stuff like that. It shook me deeply that someone would do that to his student, not to mention do it in front of a stranger.
Needless to say, I passed the offer to do the PhD at that place. It's still one of my most vivid memories from the time I spent there - which was otherwise full of interesting work and I'm grateful for the people that made it possible. I still wonder if that was real or the scene was played to find out if I'm able to handle pressure like that. In either case, it left the impression of a toxic environment that I did not want to have a part in.
- club_tropical 4y agoChina?
- izacus 4y agoYou wish, this kind of a abuse happens all the time in our nice civilized world too.
- shishy 4y agoI've seen that exact behavior at a number of institutions in the US. In fact, it's actually worse here, because a lot of PIs in the US have international students on visas, so there's even more room / leverage for abuse.
- KennyFromIT 4y agoI was that other student - the one who was being berated. My PI acted terribly towards his subordinates just because he had it badly during his years as a student. That is not an excuse to act this way to another human being IMO. I went to a U.S. PhD program during the '08 recreation out of necessity. It was a terrible experience and ultimately I ended up quitting. I've never quit anything before in my life so this was an especially jarring experience. I left, got a job in tech (my original true passion if I'm honest), and never looked back. I learned a few things from that experience. I learned that if you don't know what you want to do, then just try a lot of different things so you can compare. I learned that you shouldn't do something solely because of external expectations. I learned how important it is to treat people like humans no matter what their job is. I also learned how warm, interesting, and inviting the tech community is. I'm appreciative every day for that last one as that's why I'm here with you right now.
- colanderman 4y agoI could have written the same post. The bullying is passed from one generation to the next, those profs have no (or even negative) pressure to change because their prestige keeps students coming back for more.