It’s graduation time & there’s lots of advice going for graduates. However, as someone who never graduated with a PhD, in a group with two other post-grads who had to ditch our supervisor & get a new one in order complete theses to graduate, I have thoughts for supervisors...

Own your privilege. You may have lived in a time of affordable housing, with a wife/partner looking after household/children so you could focus on your study, parents propping up the cost of rent or expenses, you are white, you are male. Don’t assume “it was harder for me then”

Understand curriculum differences. In the time I went from undergrad to PhD the organic chem dept and inorganic chem dept had shrunk into “Chemistry & Physics Dept”. Breadth of subject knowledge in place of specialised knowledge is not always a bad thing, or fault of the student.

Understand career opportunities outside academia, and if you don’t, put students in touch w ppl in your networks who do. Don’t make students considering leaving academia feel like a failure. Let’s get real-only 3% of PhD grads end up in academic positions in universities. #altac

In the same vein, encourage extracurricular activities-public speaking, outreach, #scicomm, teaching, industry collab, #citizenscience, networking opportunities. Doing a PhD can be insular and narrow. Outside experience is valuable for development & exploring a career path.

Encourage an understanding of the machinations or organisational structure of the University/institution. PhD candidates are making a valued contribution to their institution, as well as to science, and should know who their leaders are & how to connect with & influence them

Lead by example when it comes to treatment of & respect for professional staff. The behaviour I witnessed & experienced (when working as a non-academic) was atrocious. Your Doctorate means you worked on a specialised subject. You’re not “better” and you don’t get to be a dick.

Understand your power and manage the dynamic. You have years of experience in science, & life. Use it well. Share knowledge but also learn. Don’t make inappropriate comments or sleep with students (sounds obvious but ) post grad is such a pivotal growth time, don’t taint it.

There are always ways to improve- but I know so many wonderful supervisors & understand there are so many pressures to be “everything to all” as academics. They rarely get the mgmt training that ppl in other sectors would, and the HE sector is rapidly changing. #AcademicChatter