Like a Boss

Female Science Professor says "there is no doubt that we professors are managers in many ways," not least because of the paperwork involved. But, she says despite the many similarities, the title PI is not necessarily synonymous with boss. "We are advisors, not employers," she says. "The employer is the university." For example, FSP says she can't simply "fire" an advisee. "Perhaps the argument that professors aren't really employers or managers in a business or industry sense is analogous to the argument that students who are research and teaching assistants may — or may not, depending on your opinion — be 'workers' in the same sense as employees who are not also students," she adds. In a comment to this post, moom suggests that, as a PI, "your position relative to the student is similar to the chairman relative to you — or an immediate manager — rather than the CEO in a company."