Remember the guy that was causing me all kinds of annoyance? Well, I did fire his ass, as much as you can on an academic semester schedule. He is so clueless that he asked for a letter of recommendation for a fellowship he isn't qualified for, as I mentioned before as well.
The latest update is about an ongoing saga around the project he was assigned to do in the field last summer. So he got to go to the field, all paid for on my grant and including a salary, which is rare and unusual in my discipline. Field opportunities, esp paid ones, are few and far between for grad students, but much sought after.
He proceeded to not only ask that I pay for all of his unecessary vaccinations but also for sunglasses and boots. I had to say no to the latter two, but did cover the former out of my personal money, since my grant can't pay for vaccinations (and he never gave me the proper reciept documentation for me to use my more flexible funds despite my repeatedly explaining what I needed).
He went to the field with my colleague. I stayed home with the baby.
He proceeded to almost completely screw up one of our field vehicles and caused a huge nightmare getting into the field. He forgot his pen and field notebook on a regular basis. He forgot to bring a hat, as I had explicitly told him to bring, and got some sun poisoning despite the fact that I had given him 2 verbal warnings about how to avoid this and to be carful and written along detailed email about this. He didn't follow any of my advice on this front. All of the field crew guys kept saying that he was super lucky that I wasn't there. My colleague asked that he not come back next year, and has made it very clear that he thinks the guy is sloppy too.
And then he came home. I asked him to write up the rsults from the little project he was supposed to do. It is still not finished despite the fact that he has been working as a graduate student researcher for me all semester. He keeps sending me crap. No coherent outline, no proof reading, very poor writing.
On the latest version I told him that this was unacceptable and bad science.
He was pissed because I had cc'd the co-director on the project, who had been a part of all of the email correspondence and various draft edits. He was embarrassed and outraged that I would say he had done bad science in front of my colleague.
We met, although I really didn't want to because my patience is exhausted and I knew I'd get angry. He had all kinds of excuses about how mac and pc files don't transfer smoothly, etc. I forcefully told him that I really didn't care to hear any excuses because no matter what had happened he had sent me something that he hadn't proof read or put any serious effort into. He really pushed back and kept saying that he is wonderful and that I am a bad advisor. I told him that he is uneducable if he can't take constructive criticism, be self-critical, or willing to admit when he fucked up. I tried to explain that it undermines my confidence in the quality of the work done when the write-up is so sloppy, and that I was going to have to come up with the money somewhere to re-do everything he had done because I didn't trust him. I told him that I want him to vacate his desk on the last day of the semester whether he has a new advisor or not; he is not my student any longer as of that date.
The weird thing about this story is that I had given examples of the appropriate behavior he should have demonstrated, i.e., apologizing for sending work that wasn't complete, running drafts by only me if he didn't want the co-director to see my comments, etc.
He left the lab and was out all day after that. And then, you'll never guess this one, he did exactly what I had outlined that would have been the appropriate response rather than blaming me. Today he sent me a draft that he had actually worked on for the first time all semester, that included questions back to me about whether or not his writing was clear enough in certain places, etc.
Two questions for you:
1) what do you make of that odd about-face?
2) this is the first student I have had this kind of trouble with. He is also the only new student who came in during the year I was pregnant and then had a baby. He is a stereotypical big guy football-loving doofus. I have had trouble with him from early on sensing that he didn't really respect me. Because I am a woman? Pregnant and then had a baby? He seems obsessed with where I am from (a very poor part of the country). Is that more likely his problem? Or is he maybe just so insecure that he felt most comfortable working ith a female adviser but then felt like he's better than me, for whatever reason? He really really has trouble with my role as adviser and acts like he is a colleague rather than a very early graduate student... he even seems to think that he deserves all kinds of intellectual credit for the project he was hired to help with. What is your take?
I had a student do something like this, too. I'm positive it was because I was too female, and he decided he could push me around. And you finally followed through on consequences that mean something to him. He's a jerk. Good riddance. I hope he learns something from this experience.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, he appears not to respect you and it's likely because you are a woman. Part of it is that he may really think too well of himself, I have encountered these kids who think they walk on water because they have been told how great they are their entire lives. These young guys who think very highly of themselves tend to be quite dismissive of women faculty, especially young ones, and expect to be treated as peers rather than beginning students by male faculty (the only kind worth of respect), because, being great and all, every half-baked thought these kids come up with must be gold. Usually, the big ego will get smacked out of them along the way towards a PhD (by the humbling process of doing research, through peer review, people criticizing them at conferences, etc).
ReplyDeleteI hope you are not having second thoughts about letting this guy go. From what you told us, it was the right decision. He might have shaped up temporarily to prove you wrong about him, out of wounded pride perhaps. That doesn't address the underlying issue that he does not respect you. He had the audacity to tell you that you were a bad advisor; for me, that would be the point of no return.
I agree he his completely disrespectful and probably has low self esteem causing him to act "bigger" than he is. I think you absolutely did the right thing firing his sorry ass. Someone like that does not realize there is a problem and will make no effort to improve. For me, his turn around was too little and far too late.
ReplyDeleteSorry I can't check in here or comment very often.
This maybe be over simplifying it but he just sounds lazy to me. And since now he can't get away with it, he's getting his rear in gear.
ReplyDeleteYuck. This guy is an idiot and you should black ball him from science. This is NOT someone we need in our field. Lazy, stupid, and arrogant?? Um, yeah. It's waaaaaay too late for ass kissing now, buddy.
ReplyDelete