How to Have ‘The Talk’ With Your Adviser
Too many Ph.D. students still feel compelled to make their career plans in secret.
"Nothing embodies doctoral training more than the adviser/advisee relationship. It can be a productive source of professional support in your life, a complete interpersonal disaster, or anywhere in between. And no topic of conversation between adviser and advisee is more potentially fraught than one about Ph.D. career options.
It is easy to understand why. Compared with most professional relationships outside of academe, faculty advisers have far more power over their graduate students’ careers. The adviser/advisee connection is often much more personal than that of boss and employee, and may feature little oversight. All of those factors, taken together, mean that it can feel very risky to tell your adviser that you plan to deviate from the expected career path in your field."
For the full article, visit: https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-have-the-talk-with-your-adviser