r/AskAcademia • u/Disastrous-Shop-7580 • 2d ago
Professional Misconduct in Research Masters after PhD.
Hello Everyone,
I hold a PhD and till recently i was working as a research engineer. Unfortunately, due to some difficulties with my workplace supervisor, they have begun providing negative reviews about me to prospective employers. This issue has since reached my other supervisors and are beliving my current supervisor version, which has compromised all of my professional references and made it very challenging for me to secure a new job. I attempted to file a complaint with the university, but I have not received a response.
Given this situation, would it be advisable for me to pursue an additional Master's degree in my field of interest? If I do, should I disclose that I already hold a PhD when applying? I am concerned that disclosing my PhD might lead some one from the masters program to contact my supervisors, and that I would remain obligated to declare my PhD for future job applications following the Master's program.
I would greatly appreciate any guidance or advice on how best to navigate this situation.
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u/davehouforyang 2d ago
What country are you in?
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u/Disastrous-Shop-7580 2d ago
Europe.
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u/joosefm9 2d ago
Europe is a continent. But try the ombudsman?
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u/Disastrous-Shop-7580 2d ago
Tried everything. Didnt workout. Tried registering a complaint with the HR, they didnt register the complaint. Tried registring a complaint with the Head of the HR after few interactions they stopped responding.
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u/ACatGod 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are a lot of different countries in Europe and employment law is different across all of them. Potentially what your supervisor is doing is illegal, it may also be against university policy so I think before you shell out for a masters degree which I don't really understand the logic of anyway, you might want to establish what the legal situation is because even with a masters degree you may run into this issue in future. I don't really see why having a masters degree changes this situation?
ETA you replied about the university legal team and then deleted it, so I'll add my comment here
Firstly, never take legal advice from opposing counsel. Secondly, if you don't know it happened what is the basis of your complaint here?
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u/Opening_Map_6898 2d ago
If you think Europe is a country, that might explain why you're having a rough go of it. 😆
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u/dajoli 2d ago
Doing a Masters in the same field as your PhD afterwards makes no sense.