Student Professor Relationship: Young Professors Maintaining Professionalism

Completing a graduate study now-a-days is very common. Aside from the fact that most of the occupations that really pay require a professional to have at least units in graduate studies, it is really a must to further one’s expertise because of a very close competition in the work place. Having a graduate degree is the minimum requirement to teach in the university and thus, since graduate degree holders are becoming younger as time goes by, professors are also becoming younger that make the gap between the professor and the students close. The most challenging part here is maintaining professionalism amidst close age gap. The big question here is what will professors do to maintain professionalism in Student Professor Relationship ? Well, that is simple.

• First, draw a thin line between you and your students. It is inevitable that you will not get a high regard of respect from your students because of your age but you should take a stand that respect is not given, it is rather earned. So, do not conform to their attitude. You should always be one step ahead of them when it comes to everything to prove that you deserve where you are and that you also deserve respect. You should be very careful when dealing with them. You should always stick to the standard operating procedures or protocols when you have to decide on something that concerns them.

• Second, social media is a very broad platform and every post is an invitation of either praise or bad comments. So, limit the audience of your social media accounts to your friends and never accept your students in your list. They should not have any access to your private life because young professors also have immaturity and that would make your students think that you do not have proper disposition in life and of course you do not want that to happen. Remember that you are a teacher and you influence your student and that you will never know when that influence stops. You should always be a role model to your students.

• Third, never have favorites. In this case, the interests or things of preferences between the professor and the students are not really that far, in fact they are quite near. You would not avoid that in some classes you would meet students who have the same interest with you, interests that have nothing to do with their academic life. Now, take this from me, never ever join them. Stick to your group of your age, but never ever join them. It will make you vulnerable to any kind of prejudice and untoward judgments. So, avoid having favorites inside the class. Instead, be fair in all forms and in all students regardless if their interest is the same with yours or not.

• Fourth, never ever be so emotional or never ever be so so-so. I mean, you should act accordingly. If there’s a case do not jump into conclusion all in a sudden. You should conduct an investigation so that you will have a sound and fair judgment to that case. Like for example, your students got some leak in their examination in your subject and it is just hearsay, you should not believe it right away, respect the process and always ask for proofs. Also, never be so lax. If you happen to know that somebody has a leakage in your exam, do something. Do not just sit there and wait what will happen next because that is unprofessional and professors do not do that.

How will I know that I am doing well as a young professor?

• You will definitely know that you are doing well as a young professor if you have established a sense of respect from your students. When I say respect, I do not mean fear because respect and fear are totally different. You can inflict fear to your students but never a respect, so you should really work hard on this part. Second, if they trust you. Yes, trust means that they honor your wisdom to teach them about the subjects they are taking. If they trust you that you are capable of delivering such topics then, you are really doing great. Above all, never under estimate your students, believe and respect them too. Respect begets respect and trust begets trust.

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