Graduate Research Assistant paid unequally- What can I do?

[ValenciaL]

I am a second year graduate student in a two year Master's program. In June I was hired as a graduate research assistant, but was told that the position would not qualify for a stipend or tuition waiver. Instead, I am paid $10/hr for 10 hours of work per week. During the past week the professor I work for notified the Dean of our campus that she was in need of another GRA for our project. The Dean immediately assigned a first year student to work with me. However, this student WILL receive a stipend and tuition waiver! A representative from the financial aid department said he had never heard of a situation like mine and recommended that I begin an appeal to the dean of my college. I do not understand how my work doesn't qualify for a stipend/tuition waiver, yet my coworker does.

Has anyone else ever been in this situation? What advice do you have that may help with my appeal?

[Eigen]

Are the two of you in the same program for the same degree?

Otherwise, the other GRA may well be paid partially from another source, in which case it's not the work that you're doing but the sources of payment that matter.

From my understanding of graduate assistantships, it's not usually about the work you're doing, but the position you're doing it from. You're assigned funding, and then found a place to work, rather than where you work deciding your funding, a least in part.

[TakeruK]

We had something kind of similar -- sometimes graduate students are needed to act as temporary TAs for a course when that course has an evening midterm and they need extra people to proctor the exam. These temp TAs were paid $23.67/hr for the 2.5 hours needed to set up the exam room, supervise exam, collect papers, etc. However, the TAs assigned to the actual course were paid the full TA rate -- $37.37/hr for the same work. After we brought this up to the department, things were changed to ensure all TAs, temporary or not, were paid the full $37.37/hr. However, this was much easier for us to accomplish because TAs were unionized so that there was an existing collective agreement that stipulates our wage.

I'm also talking about an experience in Canada where stipends work a little differently -- all of our RA and TA work are contract-based and our stipends are based on hourly wages. So, not everything necessarily applies, but hope the info was helpful. One thing that should apply is that people should be paid the same for the same work!

[kaister]

Just to tag along on this topic...
I'm curious as to whether it's ethical for two students in the same program (and let's say same lab as well) to have differing stipend amounts?  Even if the funds are coming from a PI's grant, are they allowed to decide who gets how much?  Are they allowed to do that? I would assume if it comes from a departmental fund it is usually a set amount (though I may be wrong), but if it comes from a grant, does that PI have the authority to assign amount?  Is there ever a situation where one student should get more of a stipend than the other (besides the possibility of external funding)?

[lypiphera]

It is definitely possible for graduate students in the same program with the same qualifications to get different stipends.  I have interviewed at 2 schools and both have this situation, to a different extent.  One school has 2 different funding packages, depending on whether you get one of the competitive fellowships.  The "normal" package and the fellowship package is close to the same amount, but still some students make more than others.

At the other school, it's even more variable, because it depends on your professor, whether you TA or RA, whether you have a masters, etc.  I also heard that some students bargained/leveraged other offers in order to get more funding, so the students that didn't do that make less.  In addition, some students apply for and/or receive external funding, like an NSF fellowship, which will again change the amount.

 

These situations are both a bit different from the OP's experience, but just thought I would share my experience in how students can make different amounts of money.

[Eigen]

As to whether or not it's ethical... I'm not sure exactly how this would become a question of ethics at all. 

 

Just like with jobs- some people have the same job, but get paid more due to better qualifications/competing offers/better negotiating skills. 

 

And in labs, it's rare that everyone is even working the same "job"- maybe a PI has someone they really want to recruit into the lab with a specific skillset, and are willing to pay more for it. 

 

And, as mentioned, there are fellowships, seniority, etc. 

[kaister]

I understand fellowships and other external things can change a person's funding and there are sometimes "pay scales" they use, especially with seniority and qualifications.  The context I'm thinking it from is because I'm already a resident of the state, of this University, meaning I'll already qualify for in-state tuition.  And being that they know I'm from here, I guess I'm just wondering if they'll be thinking "oh they don't need as much money because it's not like they're moving from far away and they are already settled here."  Maybe that's a crazy thing to be thinking.  But I do recognize, I would "possibly" be at a more advantageous position financially, than another applicant moving here.  I just wonder if they take those sort of things into consideration or not.  Or am I over analyzing...lol.

[TakeruK]

And being that they know I'm from here, I guess I'm just wondering if they'll be thinking "oh they don't need as much money because it's not like they're moving from far away and they are already settled here."  Maybe that's a crazy thing to be thinking.  But I do recognize, I would "possibly" be at a more advantageous position financially, than another applicant moving here.  I just wonder if they take those sort of things into consideration or not.  Or am I over analyzing...lol.

 

I don't think they do that at all, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. I know I would personally benefit from funding based on how much need one has (e.g. more funding for people with dependents). I believe in getting people to the same level is the right thing to do, instead of treating everyone equally. That is, perhaps the department should fund people to get everyone to the same standard of living, instead of funding people the same amount. So, for example, someone with higher medical needs/costs might get more funding so that they can enjoy the same standard of living as someone who doesn't need to spend money on healthcare, because they are already healthy.

 

In the ideal world, every grad student would have whatever amount of funding necessary for them to not have to worry about finances etc. However, the real world is not like this because it's a "zero-sum game". If we are able to fund those with higher needs at higher amounts, then it would be unfair to take away funding from those with less needs. In addition, it raises the very tricky issue of what counts as "need" and what counts as "luxury". Does having a family count as a "need" or a "luxury"? What about having a car? What about being in-state vs. out-of-state -- e.g. no one is forcing anyone to go to school out of state, so doing say (and the extra costs) are a "luxury"?? The other problem obviously is this now imposes the school's definition of how students "should" live their lives. 

 

To be honest, sometimes I am frustrated when our department chair tells us that "your stipends are enough so that you can afford everything, except maybe a car [i.e. we should save for a few years]". This is simply not true for people who aren't single grad students that want to live on campus housing. While domestic grad students may have partners who are able to find work, the rules are very complicated for international students with partners/spouses. So it's a bit frustrating when the faculty say stuff like "don't worry about money, you're doing okay", and I'm thinking that my current budget is running very negative because health insurance cost for spouses of students are not subsidized at all here etc. etc. 

 

I feel that in a sense, by providing everyone with an equal amount of funding, the department is also kind of imposing what kind of lifestyle they want their grad students to live. But compared to a dictated list of what is "necessity" and what is "luxury", the current system is definitely the lesser of two evils. I don't know how to "fix" the current system either! So we just have to live with it for now.

 

However, there are smaller ways that students with higher needs might be able to access increased funding. At some schools, my spouse's health plan would have been highly subsidized (thus providing more support to those who may have higher expenses). At my current school, there's a benefit for the additional costs of child care. At one of my old schools, when there was additional money allocated for our health benefits (through the TA Union), we decided to reserve a portion of that money to award as grants for those with higher health care needs (instead of simply allocating all of that money to everyone equally, regardless of need). So I think trying to get everyone on the "same level" can work out for small scale situations like this.