> Judy Stone (Judy at amida.zoo.duke.edu)
> 7 Jul 1998 13:33:12 -0700
> Both Deirdre and Susan argue that we owe it to our students to subject
> them to pointed criticism, since they will surely need to face it in "the
> real world". I feel strongly that the best way to help a student to
> prepare for the real world is NOT to demolish their self-assurance in the
> protected one. Yes, they need to learn to defend themselves, but I think
> that is best done from a feeling of strength -- and one way to get that
> feeling of strength is to have a PhD supervisor who you perceive as your
> ally.
Yes, but I think you are deliberately misconstruing what Deirdre and
I are saying. Neither of us, I am sure, will go after a student
with the intention of demolishing their self confidence or of making
them look bad, or of abusing them or denigrating them (as admittedly
some people do.) Criticism is not always negative, and learning to
recognize that is vital. If you do something wrong, should I not
say so? The inability to take ANY sort of criticism, even when
provided by your PI/ally, is a real problem that a lot of students have.
If you can't take it when it is meant well, then what on earth will happen
when it isn't? And if you do a lousy job on something, shouldn't I tell
you? Not in front of everyone else, if possible, but I'm not going to
pretend all's well when it isn't--and if you're being lazy, I'm going to
tell you so.
So, speaking for myself, I will criticize my students. I will also
praise them (my students get more positive feedback from me in a month than
I got in 5 years of graduate school). I will ask strong, challenging
questions, again, not aggressively, or with the intention
of freezing them, but with the intention of, "if you say it, be able
to defend it", NEVER with the attitude of "I'm so smart and
you're so stupid" that the problematic confrontationalists employ.
My job is not to pat them on the head and say "there there all's well".
It is to make them think, argue, discuss, and defend what they are
doing so that they can join the community of scholars with confidence
and ENJOY it. If you can't test those skills in the security of
your lab "family", then how can you develop them?
> I can give as example two labs in an unamed institution, headed by famous
> and productive professors. In one, students are afraid to appear ignorant
> and will not speak unless they are willing to assert themselves. The
> agressive/confident students shine here, but others equally talented feel
> insecure and tend to have low profiles during graduate school and
> afterwards. In the other lab, students feel free to discuss issues as a
> way of learning about them. There is no penalty for being unsure of the
> truth, as long as you are willing to work your way towards it. Bright
> students become brilliant and shy students bloom. Which do you think is a
> better way of doing things?
Duh. Again, you are misconstruing what we are saying--we aren't advocating
big guy egotism (pretty cheap, too, to have to score points off of one's
students), but rather, advocating the latter approach. I tell my students
to tell me if they think I am full of it--but be able to back it up! :-)
There IS a way to challenge people that doesn't denigrate them, but
still requires that they sharpen their wits and enter the field.
THAT'S what we are after.
Frankly, the way this profession is structured, it actually costs
enormously in time, effort, lab productivity, and so on for a PI
to treat her students as budding colleagues and to help them
acquire these skills of independent thinking. Much easier to make
them feel good, use them as robot hands and rubber
stamp a meaningless PhD after 5 years--I bet a number of our readers
have been through that sort of lab! But instead of excoriating
those who irresponsibly send their unprepared students to the
wolves, the posts here scold those who are trying to help
them develop practical survival skills.
And if you are decrying the lack of "positive feedback", the
responsible, caring boss trying to teach all this gets none.
--
-susan
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Molecular Biology and Virology Lab
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