by Nick Baez
Whenever I reflect on my years in grad school, I often get into the habit of saying, “Man, I wish I knew then what I know now.” Many fail to realize that once admitted, there may also be intra-organizational dynamics at play that can serve to produce, for some, a very tumultuous experience. Rather than presume to know what your experience will be like, I will instead spend this short time describing some potential difficulties you may encounter. Learning about the existence of these, and subsequently, how to effectively navigate them, is an essential part of having a successful graduate school experience.
When your advisor has an ulterior motive/hidden agenda.
In an ideal situation, the professors of your graduate program will do everything they can to ensure that you graduate in a timely and appropriate manner. However, I have witnessed instances across programs in which a student’s defense of his/her dissertation or thesis has been delayed for seemingly arbitrary reasons. A closer investigation of such instances reveals that quite often, it is the student’s advisor who is behind this delay.
Usually, the advisor’s motives are due to two possibilities: either (A) they have personal conflicts with other committee members; or (B) they want their students to obtain post-graduate jobs that are worthy of “bragging rights” before graduating, so that they can be perceived as noteworthy advisors. In both cases, this unnecessary delay adds equally unnecessary expense and stress.
When the publication process is used against you.
Most doctorate programs will naturally guide you towards publishing scientific, peer reviewed articles. The amount and quality of publications are significant factors that determine your post-graduate work. However, in some programs, the faculty will purposefully (and passive aggressively) withhold information regarding publishing opportunities from students with whom they have personal conflicts. Unfortunately, this petty manner of handling personality differences has major repercussions and career implications.
When your stipend is not commensurate with your amount of responsibilities.
People who attend doctorate programs often joke that graduate student assistantships are the most legal form of worker exploitation in existence. Though in the grand scheme of things, this is an obvious exaggeration, there are also some elements of truth. Many graduate programs, if they offer a monthly stipend, offer such an infinitesimally small amount that students must be single, have no dependents, and live a menial existence in order to avoid feeling an economic burden. However, when working the assistantships required to earn such a stipend, many grad students find that they put in at least 40 hours a week into doing an adequate job. If, for example, your monthly stipend is $1100, this translates into an hourly wage of $6.88 (less than the national minimum wage).
You will certainly not encounter these issues at every graduate program. However, these circumstances do occur frequently, and may significantly impact your progress through grad school. If they occur during your experience, it is important to confront those responsible for perpetrating such issues in an appropriate and immediate manner.
To learn more about Nick, find him on Facebook.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
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About Nick Baez
True, the list goes on forever though.
You never know when you’re going to graduate, so you feel stuck.
Grants are so difficult to get that professors are moving around a lot or driven crazy.
To extend the metaphor further about slavery. Your boss could yell at you everyday (and some do), and you can’t leave because you’d have to start over.
Typically after about 2-3 years you start to look around tosee what kind of jobs are available, which is typically bleaker than you thought.
You have to work with other graduate students who are also neurotic.
Instead of going to graduate school full-time, consider getting a real job and working part-time on your graduate degree. This will allow you to leave when it gets to be not worth the time and emotional commitment. Too many graduate students go into graduate programs because they don’t know what else to do and then feel stuck because they do not have other options. Most importantly, do a bit of soul searching on what you can realistically expect to do with the graduate degree and all the time you dedicated.
Consider that 1/3 of Ph.D.s would have not gone into academia if they had it to do again. Also, Ph.D.s have the highest divorce rate. Is it really worth it?