In continental Europe (not the UK afaik), grad "students" are considered proper employees of the university. In my home country, they have been traditionally ca

In continental Europe (not the UK afaik), grad "students" are considered proper employees of the university. In my home country, they have been traditionally called "Assistant in Training", much akin to a paid apprenticeship in the sciences. Mind you, they are not paid a lot, but enough to be able to rent an apartment in the city the university is in. In English, we have started calling them PhD "students" as well, which imo very much undermines the perceived position of these "students".