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I've read at least one career advice essay that calls out asking your PhD students to call you by your first name as unprofessional.

My coworkers and I always called our PhD advisor by his first name, and a graduate student calling any professor by their last name, much less their own advisor, strikes my sensibilities as quaint and old-fashioned (undergraduates are a different story, of course).

What is the standard practice for this?

ff524
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user168715
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  • In some circumstances, the issue is not first (given) name or last (family) name, but perhaps of implied respect, which can at least formally be given by an honorific "Professor" or "Doctor". When I was not so much older than the grad students, some of them decided to call me "Doctor Paul" or "Professor Paul", which was perhaps a bit silly, but did not insult me so much. First-naming, "tutoyer"ing en francais, is an iffy thing. Especially now that I'm as old as kids' grandfathers, it seems strange to be addressed by my first name by them. – paul garrett Jun 19 '13 at 02:22
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    Yes, my PhD student should call me by my first name. – JeffE Jun 19 '13 at 02:26
  • ... and I could add that I would not have considered for a second addressing Shimura as "Goro" when I was a grad student. Nor Weil as "Andy". I could barely manage to address Lang as "Serge" while I was a Gibbs at Yale. My intonation was not buddy-buddy, etc. I realize there is a culture of "my students are just younger colleagues"... – paul garrett Jun 19 '13 at 02:43
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    Related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3473 http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9802 – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jun 19 '13 at 02:48
  • I was always informal when talking with my advisor and the other professors in my research group but formal when talking about them with others. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jun 19 '13 at 02:51
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    It depends on the local customs. In Croatia, it is customary for students to address professors by the title. In England, first-name basis seems to be the standard, to the point that one professor actually told me, semi-desperately, "PLEASE, call him by his name!", when I kept mentioning "prof. ". It took me some time to get used to it. – Vedran Šego Jun 19 '13 at 03:10
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    Echo @VedranŠego . This question is definitely local custom dependent. Please specify your location or answers by locations. – Nobody Jun 19 '13 at 04:05
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    Echo @VedranŠego Same thing... I was actually very glad after coming from Croatia to France that in English, there is no distinction between 2nd person pronouns for informal/formal talk as in Croatian/French (we talk in Eng). My French supervisor insisted everybody be on first-name-basis, but I did not feel at ease with it. Currently, with my new French supervisors, I settled on starting the e-mail with "Dear Prof. X", but addressing in the e-mail body and in person by their first name. In an e-mail, it is just very distracting and in person - I have trouble pronouncing their last name well :/ – penelope Jun 19 '13 at 09:46
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    NO! They should call you "Master" ;) – NPcompleteUser Jun 20 '13 at 12:35
  • @scaaahu, it is even institution/department custom dependent. Here in some departments some professors are (semi) routinely called by first name by undergraduates, in other, neighboring departments anything but a very formal "professor so-and-so" would be unthinkable. – vonbrand Jan 27 '16 at 18:22
  • Here in China most of my students are not aware that the last name exists. I think the only person in the whole university who knows my last name is the accountant. It makes life infinitely easier. – Arthur Tarasov Jan 28 '16 at 12:46
  • Interesting question certainly. I've always called my advisor by his professional name, i.e. Dr. XYZ out of respect. However, at least in America I am unaware of any formality that's required here. –  Aug 24 '20 at 03:36

6 Answers6

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Yes, a PhD is essentially an apprenticeship in academic research, so they should be treated as a colleague in potential (it seems normal practice for an RA to refer to their supervisor by their first name). Also I think it is a bad idea for researchers to be overly formal and deferential towards their supervisors; if you ware working at the cutting edge of your subject, not all of your ideas will be good ones, and the PhD student should feel comfortable pointing out where they feel this is the case. This sort of self-skepticism (being comfortable with the idea of being wrong occasionally) is a key component of being a good scientist, and it seems to me to be difficult to communicate this by example if the student is constantly reminded of their place in the hierarchy by making them call me "Dr Marsupial".

Dikran Marsupial
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    You're right that PhD students should be treated as colleagues in potential, but the fact that this implies first-naming is location dependent. – Étienne Jun 19 '13 at 21:19
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    I fully agree (+1), first naming is indeed location/culture dependent, however the point about inculcating self-skepticism shouldn't be. I think informality encourages the student to be questioning and not take what I say to be the ultimate truth. In a more formal culture there needs to be other ways of encouraging this sort of occasional and entirely appropriate dissent. While I prefer my students to refer to me by my first name, this is difficult for some of them and I don't insist on it. – Dikran Marsupial Jun 20 '13 at 10:58
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    I agree with your point about formal distance and the invitation to criticise. In the same vein I feel that emphasising authority this way is antithetical to science anyway. – Konrad Rudolph Jun 20 '13 at 12:21
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    @DikranMarsupial In India we refer to the supervisors as Sir/Mam, and we are free to convey our differences with the supervisor's opinion to him/her. Its more of a culture thing. – Jihadi Aug 24 '20 at 05:32
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    @Jihadi indeed (+1), it is cross-cultural differences that tend to need greatest consideration, and there isn't a "one-size fits all" strategy that will work everywhere for everybody, and as I said, if students feel uncomfortable calling me by my first name, I don't insist on it. It is also worth pointing out that as a white middle aged man it is culturally easy for me not to worry about my "authority", whereas e.g. female lecturers often don't automatic get the respect/authority that they have earned. So I tend to address academics I don't know as Prof/Dr etc. until they suggest otherwise. – Dikran Marsupial Aug 24 '20 at 09:00
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This is definitely a local practice. Here in Germany, it is not standard that colleagues call each other by their first names without specific invitation to do so. However, in other institutes, it is now standard policy that everybody refers to each other by their first name. So what is considered acceptable varies very much from location to location and group to group.

Within my own group, my undergraduate students tend to call me "Professor," while the graduate students and postdocs call me by my first name. This seems to me to be a reasonable balance—but I wouldn't really have a problem if an undergraduate who's worked for me for a while calls me by my first name.

A graduate student who isn't in my group, however, should not automatically expect to call me by my first name in an initial email. That would be rather presumptuous.

aeismail
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    Plus we have the combinations of Du + Lastname () and Sie + Firstname (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Sie)... Main point: if you (= teacher/advisor) want to be addressed by Du and/or given name, do not forget to invite the students to do so (for some students, it will be invitation enough if you start saying Du + given name, others will consider this impolite without your invitation for a mutual Du). And if you do so, do it with all of them. Otherwise, the situation will become awkward. – cbeleites unhappy with SX Jun 19 '13 at 15:21
  • I work in an English-language institute, but outside of it, the patchwork is crazy. – aeismail Jun 19 '13 at 16:53
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    @cbeleites “Du” + “last name” is rather uncommon though, isn’t it? It sounds very patronising to me. Like the bad cop talking down to a criminal. – Konrad Rudolph Jun 20 '13 at 12:19
  • @KonradRudolph: Using Du with "Herr" or "Frau" would be bad. But I could see it if you used just the last names. It would be a bit like a sports team. – aeismail Jun 20 '13 at 12:50
  • I don't understand why you would care if undergraduates called you by your first name. Does it somehow cause you harm or insult? If so, do you have a reason for this to be the case? – Jase Feb 27 '14 at 11:59
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    @Jase What is offensive isn't based on logic but on custom. There's nothing intrinsically offensive about a raised middle finger except what meaning Western culture gives the gesture. In German culture, to address an academic colleague by their first name without permission is offensive - that doesn't need additional justification to be the case. – dbmag9 May 27 '14 at 20:07
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    @Jase: dbmag9 is correct. In general, I find it strange when someone I don't know personally (and I would not consider a lecture a "personal introduction") calls me by my first name. But my reaction would not be to find it insulting (given context, of course). Many of my German-born colleagues would. – aeismail May 27 '14 at 20:12
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    @KonradRudolph: I know that particular mode of speaking only from the way pupils at an elementary school would address their teacher. – O. R. Mapper Jun 29 '14 at 10:09
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    Germans can be sticklers for their titles... I know of a German professor who traveled and worked closely with a colleague for more than 10 years and still insisted on being called "Herr Professor [lastname]". – fgysin Jan 28 '16 at 12:39
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I recall a teacher of mine saying : "Dealing with different cultures is dealing with different expectations", and calling someone by his title or his first name is definitely related to customs.

Being a French (from Chinese parents) student myself, I have never called my teachers/professors by their first names, but things tend to change just as customs evolve. Maybe it is because of my chinese backgrounds, which implies a strong use of titles (even for family members) that is explained by the importance of respect for the elders in the society.

Then I got to study in Oslo for a few months, and people explicitly asked me to call them by their first names, which I did later. However, it still feels akward for me to call someone by his first name when he is "much" more older than me.

Now what I do is that I say "Monsieur" or "Madame", and use the first name if I am invited to do so.

PatW
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    I had the same experience as you, in my French classes calling a professor by his first name would have been insulting, but then I studied in Norway and my Norwegian teachers laughed when I called them by their second name as it sounded extremely formal for them. – Étienne Jun 19 '13 at 21:11
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I always have my students call me by my first (given) name. Currently, I'm teaching in Asia and the students have the local custom of calling everyone as Mr. Givenname or Miss Givenname (yes, even if she is married - strange, I know). This is completely different from my native culture but I bring my culture with me...for a reason.

I have no desire to introduce the formality of calling me in any sort of official way. I feel it distracts from the importance of focusing on the matter of education. As long as my students do not refer to me in a rude way, I'm quite flexible. I do, however, encourage (without insisting) them to use simply my first name, without any title, rank, or any other identifier. This is true not only for my graduate students but for my undergraduate students as well.

Others in my departments, most notably Asian teachers, do prefer to have the greater level of formality. To each their own. It really does come back to culture. For me, I allow my students to follow which ever culture they prefer, but I do let them I know I don't want formalities to interfere with the educational process in any way.

earthling
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    most notably Asian teachers, do prefer to have the greater level of formality is very true in my Asian location. Some would not only prefer but also insist on it. – Nobody Jun 19 '13 at 06:52
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    @scaaahu I was toning it down a bit. Many that I work with do insist on it as well. – earthling Jun 19 '13 at 10:59
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    In China's education system, starting from kindergarten, NOT formally calling a teacher is an actionable disciplinary breach in most schools... so this has been ingrained in them. – Nelson Jan 28 '16 at 09:05
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In Japan, graduate students generally address their professors as Lastname-sensei or just sensei. Using the first-name would be unheard of. Even faculty do not address each other with their given names (unless they are foreigners).

Faculty generally address students by lastname-kun or lastname-san.

Use of given names in Japan is generally restricted to genuinely close friends and family in private situations.

RoboKaren
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    Out of pure curiousity, do students address each other with their last names as well? – svavil Jan 27 '16 at 17:26
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    Japanese cultural formalities are very complex. It IS possible for students to address other students with more formal titles. – Nelson Jan 28 '16 at 09:07
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    Classmates will use lastnames (with or without honorifics). Only very close classmates will use firstnames (men on the same sports team; lovers; etc.). – RoboKaren Jan 28 '16 at 21:12
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    @svavil - for students, it greatly depends on the university context and environment (my comment disagrees with RoboKaren's comment), but in some majors students address each other by first name with kouhai affixing "san" and sempai affixing nothing onto the first names. – virmaior Jan 29 '16 at 01:02
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This question is to me about: "how to behave professionally". As a teacher and a supervisor, I chose an intermediate way. I play with three items: first or last name, Mrs./Ms./Mr. or casual, and you and thou (a distinction that still exists in several languages; in French tu and vous). My aim is to show both respect and equality of treatment. I dislike professional situations where someone calls a colleague by the first name without reciprocity. So (as an advisor):

  • Up to the Master of Science level, I call students with Ms (or Mrs)/Mr. and their last name, and I expect the students to do the same.
  • I propose my PhD students (during their PhD time) to call them by their first name, and to call me with my first name as well (equal footing). Yet, in French, we have a difference between "tu" and "vous" (see "Tu and Vous"), with shades related to "you" and "thou"; "vous" is regarded as more polite, and we use the "tu" to talk in everyday life.
  • When they get their thesis, I generally propose we switch to the more casual "tu", and I leave them the choice to use it, and first names as well. I am not anymore in a "supervising position" to impose them choices anymore.

And honestly, sometimes, I use "vous" and the last name when I meet students I have not met for a long time. Parental education.

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Laurent Duval
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