Strategies for Success > Overcoming Obstacles > Student-Advisor Relationship

Have you encountered difficulties in your working relationship with your research advisor?

Your working relationship with your research supervisor and other members of your advisory committee will undoubtedly influence your momentum and your performance. Periodically examine what is working well, and what needs improvement in your working relationships.

If there is tension in your relationship with your advisor, the first step is for you to clearly identify for yourself what is going wrong. Here are some common sources of tension.

• Lack of advisor availability. Your supervisor is not available for consultation.
• Micromanagement. You may feel that your supervisor is overly-directive.
• Lack of support. You may have a sense that your supervisor is unhappy with your performance or even critical.
• Divergent goals. You and your supervisor may have different goals for the research or want to emphasize or give priority to different aspects of the research program.

The next step is to talk with your advisor. A good way to begin is to ask your advisor for a candid appraisal of your performance and progress. Try not to be defensive, but rather get a clear idea how your supervisor sees your collaboration.

• You may find that what appears to be a lack of availability or support simply reflects work or personal pressures on your supervisor.
• If your advisor has some concerns about your work, ask him/her to give you some details about the problem and some suggestions for how they can be corrected.
• Make some suggestions of your own about what might help you and the research project.
• Keep the discussion focused on finding solutions and not on rehashing past grievances.

Know the role boundaries and what is reasonable to expect from your supervisor. Maintaining appropriate role boundaries is essential for the well-being of both faculty and students. Students need to maintain professional relationships with faculty and develop appropriate support networks for personal issues.

If you and your advisor can't agree on what steps are needed to get things on course, talk about various options for resolving the situation. This might involve a joint meeting with your program's graduate advisor.

Graduate students have a right to emerge from graduate school with good self-esteem. This requires careful and thoughtful management of professional relationships.