Grad students, husbands, dolphins– all the same
According to this article in the New York Times, training a husband is just like training a dolphin. In brief: if he does something that annoys you, don’t respond. If he does something you like, praise him a lot. Don’t nag. The author, Amy Sutherland, says she learned these simple principles from exotic animal trainers, but I am pretty sure she was scooped by Dr. Laura’s "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands."
Anyway, it seems this is also a good approach to training grad students. After all, what grad student really responds well to either nagging or criticism? Isn’t the usual response to "you really haven’t been achieving enough in your research lately" to get either depressed (mostly women) or angry (mostly men) and do even less?
As a husband (and one-time grad student), I must ask: what if the critter in question never does anything you like?
Comment by Bill Hooker — June 27, 2006 @ 4:13 am
Good point. Don’t dolphin trainers do something like pat the water to get the dolphin to come over? There must be a way of suggesting the desired behavior without waiting for the dolphin to come upon it naturally…
Comment by drshellie — June 27, 2006 @ 4:28 pm
If an advisor starts actually treating grad students in a nurturing, positive, and respectful manner, then who will he project his fear of inadequecy onto?
-A concerned technician
Comment by Lab Lemming — June 28, 2006 @ 10:15 pm
My current advisor is fantastic. He really IS nurturing, positive, and respectful, and is very gentle and subtle when he has to correct someone.
I think he can do this because he has a strong sense of who he is and what he is doing in science and life. So there is no need to take anything out on anyone! Conquer your own fear of inadequacy first, and the rest follows.
Comment by drshellie — June 29, 2006 @ 6:13 pm