Situational Interview Based Investigation of Advisor–Advisee Conflict Communication in U.S. Chemistry Graduate Education

The central component of a chemistry PhD program is the research group, where advisors have significant impact on students’ professional development and career path. Current literature indicates that communication issues of advisor–advisee relationships in some graduate programs arise because of the perceived power imbalance in advisor–advisee relationships and students’ fear of advisors. These issues can negatively influence students’ conflict communication behaviors to advisors, an area that has received little attention in the literature. This study aims to identify the various conflict communication behaviors of chemistry doctoral students and explore what factors affect these behaviors. Chemistry graduate students were asked to respond to an advisor-related conflict situation in whatever way they saw fit and justify why they would respond in that fashion. The results showed that, although most of participants desired to openly communicate with advisors to resolve this conflict, some participants looked for help from others to avoid direct contact with advisors. In addition, different communication behaviors were emphasized by participants when exemplifying how to resolve this conflict situation. Participants’ justifications indicated that students’ perceptions of advisors’ personality, their relationships with advisors, and the power imbalance between them and their advisors justified their reported actions. These findings play an important role in understanding the advisor–advisee relationship for the betterment of these relationships in chemistry doctoral education.