UNC professor

R. Aaron Rogers • 3rd+

Chemical Science Branch Chief at US Army, Test & Evaluation Command

Academia definitely can be extremely toxic. I've witnessed it myself. Several suicides during my time in grad school. I knew the PI in two cases. One was not toxic, the other was extremely coercive and toxic.

Much of the problem STEMs from extremely tight funding, overgrowth of PhD programs resulting in admission of students who really have no business getting a PhD, and a hardcore focus on publish or perish that ensures failure for many students and faculty.

At some point, academia needs to consider heavily drawing down PhD program sizes and refocus their efforts on creating high quality graduates. Currently the focus is on highly published graduates. Publications are great, but the sheer number of journals indicates the focus has been on quantity instead of quality.

That UNC professor would probably be alive if academia had discerning admissions and a focus on student success above all else.

2 Replies on R. Aaron Rogers’ comment

William O'neal • 3rd+

Graduate from Francis Marion University

R. Aaron Rogers exactly. I have been saying GPA and letters should hold the most weight.

William O'neal • 3rd+

Graduate from Francis Marion University

I remember hearing about that professor that was killed. There is competition in grad school but I would also argue the competition isn't currently healthy. And if there are people in there because they wrote a good statement(and those other kinds of statements), had strong letters to offset subpar GPA, or had the time to do outside research, then it's possible the best candidates are not all selected.

3 Replies on William O'neal’s comment

Kristen Harrison, PhDAuthor

Richard Cole Eminent Professor, UNC Hussman School of Media & Journalism, media psychologist, autistic elder, first-generation college grad, parent of neurodivergent teens, native Detroiter, somelikeitaut.bsky.social

William O'neal the other thing is, a great applicant might be rejected one year and accepted the next because the department is thinking about which faculty interests/areas to support with more student enrollment, and that changes by the year. It would be a shame for that applicant to think that they didn't measure up somehow

Norah S. • 2nd

Servant leadership

My whole dissertation is about safety in higher education, and since the point I began my research until now, I have had to update my dissertation repeatedly with reference to these tragedies.

1 Comment on Norah S.’s comment

Kristen Harrison, PhDAuthor

Norah S. Good on you for doing this important research

Andy Leask • 3rd+

Professor at University of Saskatchewan

19h

I am not understanding precisely what your point is. Often the "Cell Editorial Board" members are the worst advisors as they want to advance their careers by having high impact papers. On the other hand，students pick advisors based on their ability to get high impact papers. But often these people, when independent, are incapable of coming up with novel ideas and successful grants. The reality is: it is difficult to get the initial interview without a high impact paper. Pick advisors with a proven track record of placing people, irrespective of where they are located or where they publish

RWEHUMBIZA KALANGARI • 3rd+

(Ph.D.)

Kristen Harrison, PhD Thank you for sharing this story, the trauma and suffering with different perspectives and emotions for graduate students particularly PhD is rising. I have witnessed this and it’s not fun at all

Steven Revelian • 3rd+

PhD candidate@ Saint Louis University | Research Support, Education

Thanks for sharing Kristen Harrison, PhD

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