favoritism in seminar

[Sapphire120]

I'm taking a grad seminar and although I've never been one to complain about unfair treatment in an academic setting, I feel like that may be the case with this course. Multiple times over the course of the semester, I will say something in class (composed of 6 students btw) and the professor will barely nod, but then directly after I say it, another student will say something like "To echo *my name*, I thought that was interesting too" And then they'll basically restate the exact point I just made (which is fine...they're obviously acknowledging that I had the idea so that's not what bothers me). It's that whenever another student says my exact idea, the professor becomes highly enthusiastic and says multiple times about what an excellent, insightful comment that was etc. And I'm over there silently like wtf? Did I not *just* say that?! I've tolerated it throughout the semester because I thought I was imagining things but after the most recent class meeting when it was extremely obvious, I feel like I need to calmly address it with the professor. He will be someone that I work closely with from here out so I need to establish a good relationship with him and get to the bottom of things.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice about how to broach the subject? 

[Sigaba]

24 minutes ago, Sapphire120 said:

I'm taking a grad seminar and although I've never been one to complain about unfair treatment in an academic setting, I feel like that may be the case with this course. Multiple times over the course of the semester, I will say something in class (composed of 6 students btw) and the professor will barely nod, but then directly after I say it, another student will say something like "To echo *my name*, I thought that was interesting too" And then they'll basically restate the exact point I just made (which is fine...they're obviously acknowledging that I had the idea so that's not what bothers me). It's that whenever another student says my exact idea, the professor becomes highly enthusiastic and says multiple times about what an excellent, insightful comment that was etc. And I'm over there silently like wtf? Did I not *just* say that?! I've tolerated it throughout the semester because I thought I was imagining things but after the most recent class meeting when it was extremely obvious, I feel like I need to calmly address it with the professor. He will be someone that I work closely with from here out so I need to establish a good relationship with him and get to the bottom of things.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice about how to broach the subject? 

How is this favoritism? What are the students who you think are restating the exact same point receiving that you're not?

[rising_star]

1 hour ago, Sapphire120 said:

I've tolerated it throughout the semester because I thought I was imagining things but after the most recent class meeting when it was extremely obvious, I feel like I need to calmly address it with the professor. He will be someone that I work closely with from here out so I need to establish a good relationship with him and get to the bottom of things.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice about how to broach the subject? 

I... wouldn't bother addressing it. I also wouldn't plan to work closely with this person in the future if you already dislike the way you're being treated. And, more significantly, I wouldn't care that much about what a professor thinks of my comments in seminar or how "enthusiastically" they respond to my comments.

[AP]

I understand your frustration but this is not favoritism (are you getting lower grade/worse feedback because of this?). What I would bear in mind is that maybe you are not clear when you make comments. Interventions in a seminar are hard because as the discussion develops you have your own train of thought and suddenly, you say something. Maybe you could revise how your comments and other people's comments are different so that you can better assess why the professor responds different. 

[changeisgood]

Yeah this kind of crap happens, I've seen it too.  Unless it affects your grade my advice is just blow it off.  This semester there have been a couple of times where I've made a comment that the professor and a few other students blew off as silly and ignorant, only to have the prof. make the same observation a few weeks later and call it brilliant.  I put this down to 2 things:  1) your fellow students don't know any more than you do, but they like to sound like they do, and 2) professors are absent-minded and concerned more with their own stuff than yours.

[rheya19]

Do you think some other factors are at play, like gender, race, etc? It is possible your professor doesn't know that he/she is doing it either way. 

If it were me, I would ride the semester out, finish the class, but file this experience away in my mind in case I have to work with the prof again. 

Have things changed or improved since you first posted?

[hats]

Are you close with any of your classmates, especially ones who say "To echo @Sapphire120" more or less frequently? Can you check in with them about what they think is happening? 

Some possible answers:

Yeah, I've noticed that, too! I think it's because I'm a man and you're a woman. I keep trying to draw the professor's attention to it—that's why I'm always emphasizing your contribution, but I'm frustrated that Professor seems not to be picking up on it and giving you the credit.

You take a long time to get to your points, and you do so in a rambling way. I think the substance of your comments is really smart, which is why I echo them, but you're right that Professor doesn't seem to follow your train of thought in the same way. I sometimes write down an outline of my comments before I make them to make sure they're structured—have you tried that?

What? I thought it was obvious that Professor likes your ideas! Professor takes a while to process things, though, have you noticed? It's not just you, Professor reacts a bit slowly to turns in the discussion.

(It's possible it's a combination of all three.)

After checking in with your friendliest and most socially aware classmates, there may be proactive steps you can take to refine your discussion style. Everyone has something they could improve, so that might be worthwhile. Whether or not the intervention 'takes,' on the other hand, I would definitely have a note about this professor's listening skills—especially if they are demographically selective listening skills—in my mental file about them.