Some UC San Diego grad researchers claim they were bullied by their supervisors

Graduate researchers from University of California San Diego are speaking out with saying they experienced bullying from their supervisors.

"I had a supervisor, who basically took my hair and put it between a pair of scissors and held them an inch away from my face and said, that if I did not produce any brilliant ideas then he went cut off my hair,” said UC San Diego student researcher Nancy Yuan.

Yuan is finishing her fourth year as a PhD student in computational science, but says the Basic Science Professor she worked for physically and verbally threatened her five years ago.

[kathleenparsons]

UC San Diego needs to be held accountable. This is unacceptable.

[vthwin]

“encourage to reach out to UCSD…” they literally did and nothing happened 💀

[miltonwaddams]

Yep, happened to me during my PhD process. My university did nothing. After my PhD, got a law degree and law license. I would love to sue universities that take advantage of grad students. I also feel bad for the foreign kids because they hold their visa over their heads. Shameful.

[Jesse-hnbp]

I think at a certain age, this behavior changes from "bullying" to "harassment"

[ollie-d]

I’m currently a doctoral student at UCSD. While I’m fortunate enough to not have had any problems, stories like these aren’t uncommon, mostly in the realm of emotional abuse. I’ve had friends with racist professors, professors that refuse to help them, and those that will constantly insult and belittle them. It’s not a majority of professors, but it’s still a problem. Most people have to solve the problems themselves by switching labs or dropping out. I’ve never heard anybody mention talking to the university directly since I think generally we don’t expect much to get done. It’s tragic. So much talent gets stifled in these situations and so many students suffer.

[thomasspence]

I worked in research at UCSD and can say that reports like this are 100 percent true. I ended up having to quit my dream position because my postdoc supervisor was horrendous to me and others. The PI and postdoc had no regard for the guidelines put in place to protect researchers.

[felixcat]

As a former PHD student in the Biological Sciences I can say I am not that suprised.

[zmflyhigh]

I really admire these graduate students and postdoc. I was in a similar situation when I was a graduate student working with a professor in Earth system science at UC Irvine. Our group members are so afraid of the dire consequences of reporting our hostile environment to the university. This hostile environment is so common and the funding agency for these professors should take initiatives!

[BicycleFunk]

Doesn't surprise me. My partner went here and ended up not graduating after dealing with the faculty there. Such a shame.

[pasphilc]

The main problem is how Professor view international students. They think that because they are in the US on an academic VISA, they can be used and abused without repercussions. They say this openly and the international students can’t say anything.

[alq]

I graduated from UCSD in '14 and will never donate a dollar to my alma mater. They do not respect students.

[thrombolin]

100% accurate. The only good thing about working under those horrible conditions was that I was always able to look at my current employment situation and say “this is way better than working at UCSD”.

[JimmyMcGill]

Those professors should be named and shamed. This has been happening all over the US Universities.

[MusSonik]

We really need to rethink this whole tenured system in the 21st century. I've met a few who'd bluntly stated that because of their tenured status, they weren't worried about getting fired for giving lousy lectures. And I'm talking about tier 1 schools.

[firewand]

as a student at ucsd the fucking staff here have such a bad reputation, noone in the 4 years i've been here has ever said anything good about administration

[maryleah]

I used to want to be a professor but I had a bad experience with a professor who emotionally abused me for years. And you can’t speak up about it because word travels fast in academia :(

[nunyabiznaz]

I've been a research staffer at a Midwest University for 32 years. I could list dozens of incidents. Basically if a professor has nice research funding, bad behavior is overlooked. Period. We have a very well funded female P.I. who has literally put hands on several Grad students. Many have seen people fleeing from her in tears. She has had over a dozen Grad and undergrads start and quit her lab, each one filing official complaints. Despite all the mandatory training we all must complete yearly regarding such behaviors, MONEY speaks louder to Universities than complaining students. I'm a female Veteran. I dare a bitch to put hands on me.

[vincentchau]

This is actually a common problem that happens throughout academia in the sciences. Time for the NIH to overhaul the way it hands out grants.

[thomasyang]

I got bullied when I was in Ucsd doing undergrad research, I was bullied by my PhD PI and I reported to the professor, the professor got my program terminated

[mewv]

I'm not in academia but my friends were/are, and the amount of control their supervisors had over their entire career was unimaginable to me (at least I can find another company) and these professors weren't being held accountable for not doing their job or outright holding grudges against students