Sorry if this isn’t exactly the right community, I’m just going nuts and need to ask somewhere.
So I’m a 2nd year PhD student at an R2 institution in a conservative area. My advisor was offered a job at an R1 in a highly desirable, liberal area, and I was planning on going with them. Now, I found out that they’re backing out and intend to stay here.
Some important info:
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Advisor told everyone in our department they were leaving before backing out. I told everyone I was leaving, too, and lost some committee positions and collaborators in the process.
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My spouse and I are visibly queer, and have been harassed in our town. My spouse only moved here for me, and was delighted to find out we’d be moving. They’re completely destroyed by the bait-and-switch.
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Advisor was actually only planning on moving because their spouse wanted to live closer to family and was currently unemployed. The reason they have decided not to move is because the new institute gave my advisor’s spouse a job in a department they didn’t like. The rest of the job offer letter was fine; they described it as good, even.
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My advisor did not tell me about the job search when they started looking, and confessed they didn’t intend for me to come with them originally. It turns out they brought me into their lab knowing they intended on leaving me behind, and they were surprised when I asked about going with them.
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I rotated into this lab and have funding through an NSF GRFP.
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I have paid ~$1000 out of pocket for travel expenses and application fees to facilitate my transfer to the new school.
I feel overwhelmed; when they told me they weren’t going I just told them I couldn’t talk now and needed time to process and we would talk later. I barely kept myself together long enough to leave, but now I have to talk to them. My take is that I don’t feel comfortable trusting this person with my life direction anymore, since they would waste that much time and money and back out over something so stupid. I also think it’s insane that their spouse was the reason for the move to begin with, but is also demanding they back out because their spousal hire wasn’t good enough. I don’t know how I’m going to talk to them professionally because it all seems crazy and I get upset even thinking about it.
Has anyone been in a similar situation, or know anyone who has? Advice is greatly appreciated
That really sucks, it’s not cool that they took you on as a student when they knew they’d be looking to leave the university. The closest comparison I have is I had a classmate whose PI left the university and offered to take her, but she decided to master out instead. It didn’t affect her career and was ultimately a great move.
I think it’s normal that you’d have trouble trusting them again and you should probably consider your options. Can you transfer to another lab in your department? Alternatively, you said you went through all the trouble to travel and apply at the new university. Can you still go and just pick a new lab there? If you’re post-candidacy/quals/etc, they should hopefully respect that and maybe it can accelerate your track.
Sorry you are going through this… some departments may have a faculty member in charge of student affairs / student-faculty relations. If there is such a person, I suggest you talk to them. Since this matter is already out in the open (in a way), I don’t see a downside to doing this – if nothing else, this leaves a paper trail. Be mindful how you communicate to this person: state the facts, describe your feelings and the impact of the matter to you, but try not to pass too much value judgement on the actions of your advisor – You are still in a position of weakness, you need to be able to stay on the program, possibly rotate out of your current lab or even transfer out of the department/school, and you never know in which way the impression of how you handled this matter will impact the prospect of these options. If you are seriously considering transferring due to hostile environment, try to attend conferences and make connections – it’s easier (compared to those fresh out of undergrad) now that you’re already in grad school, have done research, and have your own funding (in fact, mention this to whoever you’re interested to work with). Good luck!
I have no good advice for this but I’m sorry this is happening to you :(. That’s really not fair and very inconsiderate.
I am sorry this is happening to you. My first advisor pulled similar shit with me and left. They tried to take me with them but I stayed for a large myriad of reasons and ultimately changed supervisors. You will get through this. You need to discuss this with the head of your department & student affairs rep as soon as possible.
