When Mentorship Goes Wrong: Estimating the Prevalence of Abusive Supervision in Doctoral Education

• In Event: The Cost of Achievement: Emotional Labor and Well-Being Among Graduate Students

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence and patterns of abusive supervision in doctoral education at a large research university. Using an adapted version of Tepper's abusive supervision scale, we surveyed 2,096 doctoral students. Results reveal that 9.8% of them experienced sustained abuse from advisors, with notable variations across disciplines and stages of study. STEM fields reported the highest abuse rate, while Humanities and the Arts the lowest. Students in later years of study and those who faced financial insecurity were more likely to experience abuse. The most common abusive behaviors included not giving credit for work, breaking promises, and expressing misplaced anger. These findings offer the first large-scale evidence of abusive doctoral advising, informing policies and practices to address this issue.

Authors

• Yiran Chen, University of Michigan

• Yiping Bai, University of Michigan

• Heeyun Kim, University of Houston

• John Gonzalez, University of Michigan