Pscott

@fuzzylogician @Sigaba Woahhh, didn't think it would get heated! I know that the females (myself included) do actually perceive this as a microagression, and that this is definitely a gender issue. I thought that was kind of obvious through my separation of male and female students. Sorry for the confusion! As I stated previously, none of the professors would dare to sit down for drinks with a female student, or add them on facebook, or become buddies as it would be viewed as inappropriate. However, because a friendship between a male student and male professor isn't likely (obviously some exceptions) to give off any sexual connotations, it is deemed okay to be friends with male students. This leaves out all of the female students, which makes us feel like if the profs wouldn't become friends with any other [female] students, they should have the same rules apply to everyone. As I said multiple times, it is 100% percent the favoritism that is bothering the female students. Additionally, the supervisor of this male student has much more of a friendship with him compared to his 3 female students. And to everyone else, I appreciate the input, it is definitely part of a larger problem within the academic culture, as some of you have mentioned. I wish there were more clear avenues to voice concerns such as these. Of course we can take individual steps to become closer with the professors in our program, but it seems as we will likely always be at a disadvantage due to ethical concerns. As a PhD student it is definitely frustrating to see a masters student come in an become fast friends with the individuals that control the resources and grades! I have never seen a student have so many collaborations this quickly... and with a such a small and competitive program, he is definitely not the only proactive and ambitious one.

@knp I sincerely appreciate your advice. Although it is unfortunate that this seems to be a relatively ubiquitous issues, I do feel affirmed that we are not imagining this. You are right, I am two years above this student, however we all share an office and have the same classes! What is the most irksome about the situation is not necessarily that they went for beers but the enhanced rapport of the student and the favoritism shown in class - it is quite obvious they are friends. Our program has always been very professional unless it is a holiday party or perhaps conference events where we go for a few drinks as a program. However, no one in our program has ever heard of female students going for casual drinks one on one (this would be seen as wildly inappropriate) with the professors or even as a group after class - this would also be frowned upon. Yet at the holiday party we see the male student emerge out of the bathroom with two of the profs after taking a pee together - super weird!!! It just feels like an old boys club. Additionally, the male student is rather competitive so he does seem to enjoy the attention and the extra collaboration opportunities he has received. This is definitely a bit of a venting session, so I apologize if I seem petty. For me it is more a principle issue, but I know that the girls in his cohort are extremely frustrated. All of our professors are in early-mid thirties so I know this has to do with birds of a feather flock together, however it is not fair for all the females in the program to be left out.

I wasn't sure where to post this but this seemed like the most fitting... My grad program is almost entirely all female students, about 18 students total. However all of the professors are male. Recently we have been noticing that there is some favoritism towards the male student in class.. and at last years christmas party we noticed that they were all hanging out with this student and it felt weird. Also the student was just talking about how he went for beers with one of the professors (not his supervisor). I understand that it would be inappropriate if a male professor went for drinks with a female student but if a professor wouldnt do it with a female student then shouldn't they just not do it with ANY student? I also wonder what people would do in this situation or if you would just let it be? Are there any anonymous avenues for complaint? I know that all of the female students are noticing this and are really frustrated.