{"id":1425,"date":"2026-03-03T22:10:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:26:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:26:06","slug":"d41586-025-04126-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=1425","title":{"rendered":"My relationship with my PhD supervisor has become toxic \u2014 what do I do?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The problem<\/h3>\n
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Dear Nature<\/i>,<\/p>\n

I am a second-year PhD student in environmental science and engineering at a university in China. I have decided to seek your advice because I am in a state of crisis: I fear that my professional relationship with my supervisor has become toxic and is beyond repair.<\/p>\n

A huge problem for me is the complete lack of academic guidance I have received. I feel my research proposals are consistently dismissed. What\u2019s worse, I am often met with extremely harsh remarks in the process. For example, my supervisor has said that I am \u201cincompetent\u201d and \u201cnot even as good as a master\u2019s student\u201d. I get no advice on how I should improve, which has led my attempts at research to run into dead ends repeatedly.<\/p>\n

The persistent psychological pressure and verbal abuse have had a devastating effect on my mental health. I have been formally diagnosed with severe depression and mild anxiety.<\/p>\n

I am now at a crossroads: I do not know whether I should file a formal complaint against my supervisor or simply drop out of my PhD programme. What should I do? \u2013 A trapped PhD student <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The advice<\/h2>\n

Your situation is extremely difficult. From what you describe, there seem to be two core problems: your supervisor\u2019s lack of guidance, and their abusive behaviour.<\/p>\n

Sadly, your situation is not unique. Many PhD students around the world \u2014 regardless of their location or cultural background \u2014 have had experiences like yours or heard similar stories.<\/p>\n

Nature\u2019<\/i>s 2025 global survey<\/a> of PhD students showed that well-being is directly connected to how supportive supervisors are. About 43% of the respondents had experienced some form of discrimination or harassment, but few choose to report it, over fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n

In China, where you are, the picture is dismal, according to the survey: PhD students there are significantly less satisfied than are their international peers in many aspects, including supervisor relationships.<\/p>\n

Yet, you do have options. Nature<\/i>\u2019s careers team asked five researchers about your case. Here is their advice. <\/p>\n

Know your situation<\/h2>\n

First thing first, stop fixating on your supervisor\u2019s comments and start looking after your mental health, says Changhee Kim, a researcher in human-resource management at Xi\u2019an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China.<\/p>\n

Talking to people you trust, especially other PhD students, could provide a sense of comfort and perspective, Kim says. Your university\u2019s psychological-counselling service can offer you professional support, too, he adds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An \u2018agony aunt\u2019 for working scientists<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/article>\n<\/p>\n

It is also important to clarify whether your stress stems from bullying or miscommunication, says Morteza Mahmoudi, a nanoscientist and anti-bullying researcher at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Mahmoudi encourages you \u2014 and, indeed, anyone in a similar position \u2014 to find out what others in your research group think about your supervisor. \u201cIf you feel something, probably other members will feel the very same way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mahmoudi also recommends that you reach out to organizations that deal with academic bullying, such as the Academic Parity Movement<\/a> \u2014 a network of professionals that assists people around the world who have been affected \u2014 which he co-founded in 2019. They can assess your situation and offer help, he says. <\/p>\n

Finally, document and save all exchanges with your supervisor, in case you decide to take action, Mahmoudi advises. Such communication can include e-mails, text messages and even letters (such as the one you sent to Nature\u2019<\/i>s careers team) that capture your feelings and experiences. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether the documentation is useful at the time, it may be helpful in the future,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Culture matters<\/h2>\n

Although student\u2013supervisor conflicts occur everywhere, one extra hurdle you might face is embedded in your culture, according to Kim. In Chinese \u2014 and, more broadly, East Asian \u2014 culture, the student\u2013supervisor relationship is heavily influenced by Confucianism, he says, which emphasizes the respect for older and more experienced members of society. \u201cSupervisors are often seen as \u2018patriarchal leaders\u2019, and students are expected to be humble and obedient,\u201d Kim adds.<\/p>\n

Around the world, supervisors and principal investigators have all of the power in the relationship, from controlling resources to approving experiments, says Sherry Moss, an organizational-behaviour researcher at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a director at the Academic Parity Movement. But the Chinese cultural expectation of not challenging authority or standing out worsens this power imbalance, Moss says.<\/p>\n

The feedback that you received was vague and inactionable, she adds. To find out exactly how your supervisor wants you to improve, you could ask them directly, if you feel comfortable doing so. Seeking concrete feedback in this way is an opportunity to express your desire to improve, she says.<\/p>\n

Given the cultural context, Kim says the \u201cmost practical and ideal solution\u201d would be to identify your supervisor\u2019s work style and learn to adapt to it: however, in your case, perhaps the relationship has already soured too much because of their abusive behaviour.<\/p>\n

You can also communicate with your supervisor in a way \u201cthat is difficult to dismiss\u201d, Kim notes. For example, for new research proposals, you can create a complete, structured plan of materials, experiments, timelines and anything else relevant to your work to present to your supervisor, showing them that you have done the work. \u201cThis makes it easier for them to give a simple \u2018okay, go ahead\u2019 or specific feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chinese system<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The problem Dear Nature, I am a second-year PhD student in environmental science and engineering at a university in China. I have decided to seek your advice because I am in a state of crisis: I fear that my professional relationship with my supervisor has become toxic and is beyond repair. A huge problem for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[267,268,98,269,99,270,97],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-careers","tag-depression","tag-humanities-and-social-sciences","tag-lab-life","tag-multidisciplinary","tag-research-management","tag-science"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}