Timeline for Receiving gift from student before grading MSc thesis. Is it ethical?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 16, 2018 at 14:41 | comment | added | cbeleites | I've anecdotally heard of a similar situation (although I suspect the gift may have been more substantial) where the teacher then took the student aside, handed it back and explained that also for the student this can lead to serious trouble wrt. attempted bribery (again: public official - so policy is directly related to anti-corruption laws for public administration etc.). | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 14:38 | comment | added | cbeleites | @Kerkyra: I'd say it's a question both ways, and where I am it's off limits from whichever perspective you're looking at it. (Small gift after everything is finished would be OK). However, here (Germany) the official policy is far more heavy on the professor because a) of the perceived difference in power and b) professors are public officials, and particularly in exam situations. A few bottles of good quality beer would here be outside the "insignificant" range for school teachers, and the fact that a single student who is yet to be graded gave it alone would cause it to be unacceptable. | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 14:31 | comment | added | alephzero | In cultures where gift giving is "almost compulsory", there is often the expectation that you will receive a gift in return, and accepting a gift but not giving one in return is equivalent to a personal insult. That is not a situation you want to be in, while grading academic work! | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 14:14 | vote | accept | Bollehenk | ||
| Nov 16, 2018 at 14:11 | comment | added | Bollehenk | @Kerkyra, good suggestion. I was indeed thinking the same after I posted this question. Maybe it will be indeed nice to contemplate about this in another question using another 'setting', so to say. | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 12:39 | comment | added | Kerkyra | Great answer; additionally I wonder if the question should not be reversed: is it ethical for the student to give a gift to their professor before grading? From the professors' point of view, since the gift has little value, it's not really a bribe but more a sign of good will from the student. In this case, even if the professor refuses the gift, the student has achieved the intended goal (which was to make himself look nice and be considered differently than the others). So there really is nothing the professor can do about it. But I agree with the importance of the way it looks . | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 11:48 | comment | added | Captain Emacs | Our place has a clear-cut declaration policy and a (quite low) upper limit of acceptable value above which you have also to hand over your gift to the school. This makes it easy for me, even for students from cultures in which gift-giving is virtually obligatory: I decline any gift, because it means that I do not get to keep it plus I have to carry out extra paperwork. So, I explain that I do not get to enjoy the gift, and I get burdened with a chore. | |
| Nov 16, 2018 at 10:12 | history | answered | mlk | CC BY-SA 4.0 |