The Student Room Group

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(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

Just be aware that at some Unis, staff/student relationships are a sackable offence.
And it wont do you any professional favours either.

Reply 2

Original post by McGinger
Just be aware that at some Unis, staff/student relationships are a sackable offence.
And it wont do you any professional favours either.

Thanks yeah I know.....I wouldn't pursue but just curious if he likes me back ...or he just thinks it's funny possibly
Original post by QualityStandards
So I'm a research student and something ethically wrong happened. The supervisor stood up for me against a significantly older academic without fear for the safety of their own job. This supervisor is also highly attractive but I never really was going crazy over his good looks when I first met him. After he stood up for me, I felt like I was falling for him. I felt drawn to him and wanted more out of a professional relationship. It's been a few months and I'm harbouring feelings for him....I dream of him sometimes or he is in my fantasy.. I'm in his emails..he always replies even in the weekends ...he priorities replying to me over others as people have said he doesn't readily reply to them..... I flirt with him over emails and he teases me or says things like he's genuinely thankful for my honesty.... he clearly knows I like him but teases me. I told him I'd meet him in the evenings and he teases me by accepting my absurd requests and recommending times after 5pm but never actually follows through. I don't know if he's tempted or just emailing. Like he enjoys having a student show romantic interest but he knows he'll never pursue me... I like him alot..he's the kind of man I'd like to know more on a personal level. I don't want him to lose his job so I've reduced or stopped weekend emails so we both feel less emotionally connected. I'm driven with some moderately intense feelings of passion. When he is with me in real life, I long for him to kiss me and more... he teases me in real life with the word play in regards to experiments. I can't help but think about playing with him instead...I openly told him I like the idea of playing with him.. he encourages my nautihinesss by using the word play when he knows I'm going a lil crazy over him...idk

TBF you sound like a complete whole world of trouble and a fantasist. If he really felt the same as you do, then things would have happened long before now.

Reply 4

Original post by threeportdrift
TBF you sound like a complete whole world of trouble and a fantasist. If he really felt the same as you do, then things would have happened long before now.

Maybe he's professional and in real life I don't encourage him...I don't dress sexy. Always some oversized hoodie...yes he's my fantasy that cute man.

Reply 5

Playing with fire. He might well be contractually forbidden from relationships with those he supervises. As a minimum you would hope he would need to declare a conflict of interest and have other supervision arrangements made.
I don't see anything from this that suggests he has any romantic feelings towards you, merely that he is doing a good job advocating for you and being flexible in accommodating the times you can meet etc.

Also its very common for academics to respond outside of normal working hours - they aren't obligated to but often they don't get a chance to review abd respond their emails during the working day anyway.

You should be very careful about projecting your own feelings on a staff member in this situation.

Reply 7

Original post by Zarek
Playing with fire. He might well be contractually forbidden from relationships with those he supervises. As a minimum you would hope he would need to declare a conflict of interest and have other supervision arrangements made.

True. Should I tell his kind of boss there's a possible emotional attachment especially from my side. Let's say he doesn't actually like me...but I clearly flirt with him should he be removed then from my supervision?
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 8

Original post by QualityStandards
True. Should I tell his kind of boss there's a possible emotional attachment especially from my side. Let's say he doesn't actually like me...but I clearly flirt with him should he be removed then from my supervision?
The best thing would probably be to stop flirting and look for someone else. If you don’t want to do this you could share with him how you feel and see what he says. I don’t know what would happen if you spoke to his boss. I think it might be rather awkward to deal with, he could well be annoyed and might even be in trouble if hes judged to have lead you on
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 9

Original post by artful_lounger
I don't see anything from this that suggests he has any romantic feelings towards you, merely that he is doing a good job advocating for you and being flexible in accommodating the times you can meet etc.
Also its very common for academics to respond outside of normal working hours - they aren't obligated to but often they don't get a chance to review abd respond their emails during the working day anyway.
You should be very careful about projecting your own feelings on a staff member in this situation.

True. Thank you for the wisdom.

Reply 10

Original post by QualityStandards
True. Should I tell his kind of boss there's a possible emotional attachment especially from my side. Let's say he doesn't actually like me...but I clearly flirt with him should he be removed then from my supervision?

Just my tuppence here, which may not be worth much - but, as a PhD student who had a strong attachment/inappropriate feelings towards my supervisor, I feel I should respond to your thread. While some of your *feelings* may be understandable, your behaviour/flirting is pretty inappropriate for the working supervisory relationship. You should stop flirting with him and/or consider removing yourself from the situation (as I did. Myself and that supervisor no longer work together).

Also, any supervisor who knows or suspects your feelings and then toys with them by teasing/playing with your emotions, is super dodgy and has Red Flag written all over them. Supervisors should uphold a clear and firm boundary and not mess students around. Another reason to consider removing yourself from the situation

Reply 11

Thank you. Please if you have any suggestions on what I can tell the uni without getting him in trouble to remove myself. Should I say I feel strongly attracted to him and suggest I change supervisors?

Reply 12

Original post by QualityStandards
Thank you. Please if you have any suggestions on what I can tell the uni without getting him in trouble to remove myself. Should I say I feel strongly attracted to him and suggest I change supervisors?

I don't think you necessarily need to say too much to the uni or even to this supervisor about why you want to change supervisors. You can just say things aren't working and you would like to try working with someone else (it will probably help them if you can suggest some names of people you'd want to swap to).

Personally, I told my supervisor I love/am in love with her, and we mutually decided we should go our separate ways based on what I'd said - but I didn't tell my uni any reasons for why I wanted to change supervisor. I just said to my Director of Graduate Studies equivalent that me and my lead supervisor had parted ways and that I wanted to work with X supervisor instead, and could the uni arrange it? It was all sorted within 24 hours! :yes:

I wouldn't advocate admitting your feelings to your current supervisor, as that could get quite messy and result in more head**** than is needed, tbh. I don't regret telling my ex-supervisor about my feelings, but the ensuing conversations were quite sad and head****-y :sadnod:

Reply 13

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
I don't think you necessarily need to say too much to the uni or even to this supervisor about why you want to change supervisors. You can just say things aren't working and you would like to try working with someone else (it will probably help them if you can suggest some names of people you'd want to swap to).
Personally, I told my supervisor I love/am in love with her, and we mutually decided we should go our separate ways based on what I'd said - but I didn't tell my uni any reasons for why I wanted to change supervisor. I just said to my Director of Graduate Studies equivalent that me and my lead supervisor had parted ways and that I wanted to work with X supervisor instead, and could the uni arrange it? It was all sorted within 24 hours! :yes:
I wouldn't advocate admitting your feelings to your current supervisor, as that could get quite messy and result in more head**** than is needed, tbh. I don't regret telling my ex-supervisor about my feelings, but the ensuing conversations were quite sad and head****-y :sadnod:

This helps a lot! I feel like he'll be upset if I just left. I'll try asking him to a cafe or a meeting room to discuss the change. He probably knows someone who may be suitable...I'll probably show him this thread ...

Reply 14

Original post by QualityStandards
This helps a lot! I feel like he'll be upset if I just left. I'll try asking him to a cafe or a meeting room to discuss the change. He probably knows someone who may be suitable...I'll probably show him this thread ...

He may well be, but then he should have behaved better, imho. So try to prioritse whatever you feel you need right now for your own safety and PhD progress, rather than trying to spare his feelings, would be my advice :yes: Good luck!

Reply 15

So realised it’s not real. I'm feeling this false stuff because my depressed boyfriend neglects me..He didn't even say happy birthday to me. Idk I felt an unhealthy attraction to someone who did a good deed to compensate for the neglect. Nonetheless, I asked the supervisor's colleagues for a change without giving a strong excuse. I hope they let me leave him
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 16

Original post by QualityStandards
So realised it’s not real. I'm feeling this false stuff because my depressed boyfriend neglects me..He didn't even say happy birthday to me. Idk I felt an unhealthy attraction to someone who did a good deed to compensate for the neglect. Nonetheless, I asked the supervisor's colleagues for a change without giving a strong excuse. I hope they let me leave him


Try not to be too hard on yourself :console:

Reply 17

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
Try not to be too hard on yourself :console:

Thanks. I feel like **** I wanna cry...my life is just stupid.

Reply 18

Original post by username6289289
Thanks. I feel like **** I wanna cry...my life is just stupid.

:frown: It's understandable that, if you've been having a tough time, you read too much into your supervisor's actions - especially the way he seems to have encouraged your comments and behaviour

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