Grad School Horror Story?

[Gravity]

I am in my 3^rd year of a PhD program in the social sciences (I’m going to keep this somewhat vague so I’m less identifiable – this probably says more about my mental state than my advisor’s ability to use Google!). I have full funding through a combination of fellowships and TA jobs, and my fellow graduate students are great. The faculty are great, too, except for my advisor. And, my department’s policy is to not allow students to switch advisors (long story, I can explain in another post if anyone is interested).

My advisor is one of those who returns drafts with 100s of edits, usually involving moving commas around, almost always correcting his own edits by the 3^rd draft or so. This was irritating enough without the rants about how I would never publish (I assume because my commas are in the wrong place?), ad hominem attacks directed at my entire generation (we’re all lazy and expect something for nothing, apparently, and our parents tell us how amazing we are, but they are liars), photocopying papers I had handed in to other professors to use their comments against me (he really could have just asked me), and complaints that I was not spending enough time in the lab (I took 12 hours per semester my first year, all of which were actual classes, so 15 or so hours was about all I could handle).

My program includes a non-terminal M.A., for which we must write a research paper or thesis. This is where the real problems began. He kept requiring that I write chapters that had no business being in the paper (imagine having to insert an entire chapter on the the life history of golf club grass into a thesis on hunting and gathering 3000 years ago). Then, after spending a few weeks writing the stupid thing, he would claim that he never said I should have that in the paper, and that I must have no idea what kind of work goes into a “real, solid thesis.” Great. Then, I had to insert biographies about everyone I cited at the first point I cited them in the paper. Imagine being interrupted by something along the line of “Smith et al. (2004) argues... Dr. John Smith studied archaeology at the University of British Columbia, graduating with his PhD in 1989. He then went to work for ABC Consultants in California, where he gained experience counting birds. He is currently the John Do III Distinguished Professor of Something at the University of Florida.” Yeah – seriously. I had to insert that kind of stuff into the body of my thesis.

Then, he started demanding that I incorporate data that does not exist for my region into one of my discussion/lit review sections, kept cancelling meetings with me (so I had only sporadic advising, anyway, until toward the end). He changed his mind midsentence on draft sections (“This is woefully inadequate: you should add another chapter on the entire history of tree life in your region, and this chapter looks great. It needs a lot of work.”) My data only covered a short time period (lets say A.D. 200 – A.D. 300), but with a few weeks before my draft was due, I suddenly needed to expand the paper to cover B.C. 200 – A.D. 1300, in spite of having no data to address a the majority of that period.

He started using meeting times to attack me. At one point, he actually told me that I should never have been admitted to any graduate program, and he had looked back over my application and could not see how I could have ever matriculated. He would also badmouth previous students of his that had dropped out already, detailing bits of their private lives that he was sure led them to leave. I somehow ended up being responsible for cleaning up the lab, which none of his other grad students ever did. If it was dirty, clearly it was my fault, even if I had not been in there since the morning. He also offed one of his undergraduate advisees on me because, he claimed, he did not have time to advise the student. At that point, I was taking 9 hours, doing my own lab work, being a T.A., cleaning the lab, AND having to advise an undergraduate in an honors thesis.

My advisor’s students tend to take well over 10 years to graduate, if they are lucky enough to get past the proposal defense. Most of his students do not graduate. Right now, I’m being blocked at every turn for increasingly bizarre reasons. I’m already fed up with academia, I have no thesis topic, I have no funding to find a thesis topic because he decided that I don’t need it (he had only loans in grad school – he thinks all of us are greedy for wanting the funding we’ve been promised for getting our dissertation research together), and the thought of going back makes me sick. The most promising topic I had he actually liked, even told me he thought it would be a good idea, but when I presented the idea at a meeting with the rest of the faculty on my progress, he claimed he never said that, and that the topic would be insufficient.

I am on a leave of absence right now. I thought for sure that being away for a while would clear my head so I could decide whether I should go back. I’ve been gone for 9 months now, and I am still thinking going back would be a terrible idea. Is this sort of situation normal? I feel like one of those people in an abusive relationship who just won’t leave because things might get “better.” Things have consistently gone downhill. I managed to pass my M.A. defense after requesting 2 extensions, so at least I have a M.A. out of this mess...

I guess I’m concerned that I really am just one of those silly Gen Y kids who can’t take criticism. I feel like a complete idiot, and that people are going to figure that I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’ll never get a job outside of (or even inside of) academia regardless of whether I earn a PhD.

Anyone else in a situation like this? Thanks...

[qbtacoma]

Wow. I am so sorry to hear this. No, this isn't your fault; objectively, this advisor is not working in the best interests of his students, since so many of them (not just you!) have trouble graduating.

Other than suggesting going to your chair, I don't really have any other concrete suggestions. My sympathies, however, and best of luck to get through this with something at all to show for it.

[Langoustine]

Whoa. Being paired with a bad advisor is my worst nightmare. I don't think it is the worst thing in the world to leave a PhD program. Sometimes things happen, people happen...I had a friend whose advisor went WAY south while she was doing her PhD and she was lucky enough to be in a great/understanding department and was able to switch advisors to someone who was doing similar work. You say switching is not an option and I was unaware this was policy in some places...this kind of leaves you at a dead end, non? I must say I am curious as to why this policy is in place if you feel comfortable explaining...

Did you know about the track record of his grad students before you agreed to sign up with him? And why do you think he sticks you with the cleaning and not others in the lab? Do you know if he treats the other lab members the same way he is treating you? Do they also complain? His treatment sounds abusive. All I can do is echo qbtacoma in saying you might try talking to the head of the department. My heart goes out to you, you must be having a really hard time with this...Remember - this is your life!

[wtncffts]

I also have not much advice except to gather whatever evidence you have of his malfeasance and go to someone higher up. Clearly, this has nothing to do with your not being able to take criticism; the advisor is either duplicitous, senile, or both. I would also be interested in why there's a policy against changing advisors, since that seems unnecessarily restrictive.

[Gravity]

I did talk to the department chair, but he could not do anything (though he was sympathetic). The graduate dean is from my department, and thought I needed to talk more or something (I'm not convinced that would work - I tried!) I sense that there is some major political situation that I'm not aware of. Which brings me to the reason we cannot switch advisers. Part of the problem is that we apply to the program to work with a specific person, because each of the faculty has a specialty within the discipline. The other problem (at least as the older students explained it to me) is that so many students who are in my situation end up wanting to switch to a different adviser. At some point, the department stopped allowing that, we guess to keep my adviser from treating his students in such a way that they up and leave, but if that is the case, I do not think it is having the intended effect. It is ridiculous. I know one student who took her complaints further than I have, and she kept being told that she was in a PhD program, she shouldn't expect it to be "easy," maybe psychotherapy would help, etc.

Did you know about the track record of his grad students before you agreed to sign up with him? And why do you think he sticks you with the cleaning and not others in the lab? Do you know if he treats the other lab members the same way he is treating you? Do they also complain?

I did not. In fact, I asked around during my interview, and no one said anything that set off any alarms. One of the people who wrote a reference letter for me even told me that his students love working with him (I called that person and uh... corrected him - ha). I think he stuck me with cleaning the lab because he saw me sweeping once. Before I matriculated, he was on the only male who works in the lab for the mess (because men are messy, apparently). He does treat all of his students more or less the same way. I'm sure someone else has unwanted lab duty right now (he has an undergraduate "RA" for that). We complain to each other, mostly.

Remember - this is your life!

Yes! I need to remember that. I keep going back to "Well, if I drop out, I'll be a failure," even though I earned a M.A.

[nhyn]

I'm so sorry to hear this Criticism is one thing, attack is another. My boss/professor right now has criticized me about some issues, and while I could clearly tell he was annoyed with me, he clearly said that he was only telling me so I could be successful in the future, and I believe that. He's never mean or insults me. THAT's criticism. Your advisor clearly insulted you multiple times. Judging from your side of the story only, I'd say you're not at fault

Have you considered transferring? It'd be tough, I'm sure, esp. in the LOR part. But...people have tried and done it before. But if you don't want to be in academia anymore, I think that's fine too. Life has many things to offer!

[Vacuum]

Have you confronted this professor about his conflicting instructions to you or stood up for yourself when he belittled you in front of other colleagues?

This could result in him being more of a boor towards you, but maybe he doesn't think he is doing anything wrong? Maybe he in fact, thinks he is 'helping' you. I'd maybe bring up your concerns directly with him if you haven't (and have the courage to do it). Since you already went to a higher up and they seem like their hands are tied, which is pretty lame, you might have to just directly deal with him yourself. His response might help you figure out if you want to drop out, continue or try to transfer. Don't start attacking him about all of these past situations but try to be constructive about it.

Also, some schools have...a committee....the name slips my mind, but it basically is a student rights type of thing. They are hired by the university to represent student concerns when it comes to major issues that arise between programs/students or faculty/students. I know they have these for students who are completing medical school, so perhaps they have a general one? Worth checking out. They basically act as your 'lawyer' against whomever/whatever you are having issues with.

This is definitely a rough situation and I feel for you.

[explodingstressball]

Does your university have an ombudsman? There should be a neutral third party representative that can mediate this situation at most universities.

[Gravity]

Before I went on the LOA, we did not really have that sort of program. The ombudsmen were ineffective at best. I just checked again, though, and it looks like as of the middle of January, we have a new ombudsmen office with some new hires, and they've signed on to the ethical guidelines of their professional organization. This might be a good sign? I'll call tomorrow to see what they have to say. According to the website, they're primarily there to help faculty deal with job-related issues, but I can't imagine they wouldn't talk to me, seeing as my situation involves a faculty member. Maybe they would be able to help me figure out how to deal with LOR's while transferring (if I decide that is a good idea)? They specifically state that their job is to mediate and provide information, not provide actual legal counsel or directly do anything.

I am really fed up with academia! Thankfully, I have a job in my area of study that I enjoy. I feel like the academy has such a grip on me - the further I get in it, the more dismissive people are of people who didn't go to graduate school, or got jobs in industry, stopped at the M.A., or dropped out before finishing their PhDs, yet these people are almost always happier (at least the ones I know, which, through my job, is quite a few).

[The Dudester]

It can't get any worse, right? Call him out. Tell him his ceaseless attacks on others don't make up for his shortcomings, and go over his head. If he is so bad most students don't graduate, you won't lose anything if he sabotages you further. You can at least make things better for the next students.