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Grad school: There's no life like it |
Grad students discuss their present and their future |
Just before the rush of the Christmas season began, a sobering eight-page feature story about a suicide ran in the New York Times magazine.
Twenty-six-year-old Jason Althom was a PhD student and shining star in a chemistry lab led by Nobel laureate Elias J. Corey at Harvard University. He took his life last August and left not one, but three suicide notes: one to his parents, one to his department chair and one to his graduate adviser. Four weeks later, Althom's parents shared the letter to the department chair with The Harvard Crimson, which published excerpts.
The note began: "This event could have been avoided." It went on to say professors have too much power over their students and recommended a three-member faculty committee be adopted to supervise the progress of each graduate student and to protect them from abusive research advisers.
This was the second suicide to hit the Corey group in two years, the third since 1980, and it prompted changes for graduate students at Harvard.
Thankfully, no reported incidents of this kind have hit the University of Alberta. But talk to any graduate student and the stresses are real - financial, academic and family, and uncertainty about the future as well.
Expectations increase all around
"What has traditionally been expected for faculty is now being expected for graduate students," said Kim Speers, president of the Graduate Students' Association (GSA) and a third-year PhD candidate in political science. A graduate student looking for an academic job is expected to have a publishing record and teaching experience, she pointed out. University administrative experience and involvement in university life as a grad student are also preferred, added Speers. It's not so easy to juggle all this as programs become more expensive and fewer teaching assistantships are available.
International students have additional worries. Nadeem Khattah is taking his PhD in civil engineering. He and his wife are from Pakistan. They feel the economic crunch, said Khattah, because he doesn't qualify for student loans and foreign students pay higher tuition. As well as adjusting to another culture, Khattah struggles with the burden of "more pressure from home to do well and get good marks."
Student Counselling Services served 1,600 graduate students - more than one-third - between April 1997 and March 1998. The numbers are going up and the students seeking counselling - including undergraduates - are bringing more complicated problems with them, said Dr. Howard Saslove, director. "It's harder to be a student than it used to be," he said. "Fatigue and saturation" set in, particularly if students take degrees back to back.
Supervisor-student communication is a must
The key, it seems, lies in the supervisor-student relationship, whether it's a power struggle between professor and "lackey" or a partnership between senior and junior colleague. Master's student Elizabeth Alke said she "hit the jackpot" when it came to choosing her supervisor. "It started out as professor-student but now we're colleagues." Nina Erfani, also a master's student, wasn't so lucky with her first graduate degree. She believes her supervisor, as a newly minted PhD, was "too conscious" of the fact Erfani was a student and remarked her writing was "too female." The relationship was "problematic" and she moved on.
Some grad students deliberately look for older supervisors, with more established reputations. "They're more likely to contribute because they already made a name for themselves," said Alke. There's a feeling young professors may find grad students with new, challenging ideas threatening and a source of competition. The mantra of "publish or perish" is too fresh in their minds.
Another reason students seek "someone with a name and reputation," said Kim Speers, is to include the professor's name in research papers. It helps draw attention to your work. On the other hand, it can turn into more attention than you bargained for.
One student, who requested anonymity, is pursuing a possible breach of ethics over a publication. As a graduate research assistant, the student was assigned to collect data and write the paper. To the student's dismay, the supervisor claimed authorship, giving co-authorship to the assistant, and presented the paper at a conference. The student is investigating the matter with trepidation, fearing being labelled a "troublemaker" in the department.
No graduate student wants to burn any bridges - supervisors give out paycheques with one hand and write letters of recommendation with the other.
Dr. Bill McBlain, associate vice-president (research), said it's critical for supervisors and grad students to clearly discuss project expectations and authorship, not only at the start of a contract but also as the research and writing evolves.
Isolation is hard to bear
Many agreed the big stress for students involved in research programs is loneliness. Teresa Dobson, a fourth-year PhD candidate, described it as "really isolating and lonely if your supervisor isn't the type of person who likes to contact you a great deal and say, 'Hey, how are you doing?'" She recalled how her Scottish master's supervisor would keep in touch. "He'd say 'This is your nemesis calling!' I loved those calls." Students who have a more "hands-off" supervisor, added Speers, may find staying focused more challenging.
Even admitting to loneliness is difficult. "I'm glad to hear other people are going through the same feelings," said Elizabeth Alke. She bought a pool pass to force her to get out and interact with others.
An empathetic Dr. Mark Dale, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, wants to improve the whole graduate student experience, starting with the role of supervisors. "I'd like to see more recognition of the worth of a graduate supervisor," said Dale. Currently, it's not formally rewarded on campus. He'd also like to bump up fund development for student scholarships and reinstate financial support to bring in external examiners.
Meanwhile, U of A's 4,400 grad students would do well to take Dr. Saslove's advice: get some recreation, relaxation and exercise. And, he said, stay tuned for "Surviving your Dissertation," a group-counselling session he plans to set up soon.
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