Dealing with intern supervisor who underestimates my abilities

Question

I am an undergraduate student who got into a voluntary internship for a year in my department.

Without going into much detail, I'm a trainee in the lab where programming lessons are held with lots of computers available for the students(Teaching Lab).

The main problem of concern is that my supervisor, who also happens to be the administrator of the lab, does not seem to believe in my abilities and underestimates my intelligence, which I can't understand why.

When I signed up for the internship I submitted my resume, followed by a short interview from the university. I can say I got the job easily mainly due to my background.

I was hoping that I was going to work on something productive, like a research project. On the contrary, my supervisor seems to be very lazy and constantly assigns chores to me (cleaning, being his personal mailman on the university etc).

At the start since he found out I was bored he suggested to study some basic HTML (Fact is, I worked as a professional web developer some time ago!). If I reply that the tasks he sets for me are easy, he gets mad and tries to get me wrong so that he can show that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Professors who knew me before and visited the lab asked my supervisor to offer me some motivation for extended bibliography and some more productive learning. He answered that if I have the right foundations then we can negotiate for something more productive! (Yet, he only has one paper, published 20 years ago).

What are your opinions on this? I was about to withdraw due to boredom but I only have some months left. Should I talk to a professor about this topic? Am I expecting too much or am overqualified?

Answer 1

I don't say this lightly, but given everything you've said: I think you should probably quit the internship, or at least present the prospect of that to your supervisor.

Some key points:

1) You say it's a "voluntary internship". Well, all academic internships are voluntary (I hope!), so I think what you mean is that you are a volunteer, i.e., unpaid. [Added: I just looked this up, and apparently this phrase is quite common in parts of the anglophone world outside of North America. Sorry.]

2) You wrote

I was hoping that I was going to work on something productive, like a research project.

That is a very reasonable expectation for a volunteer internship. However, the parameters of the job seem to be very different:

I'm a trainee in the lab where programming lessons are held with lots of computers available for the students.

But that doesn't sound research-related at all: it sounds like you're in a teaching lab, not a research lab. If you were actually doing the training, you'd be some kind of TA...without pay. Unfortunately:

On the contrary, my supervisor...constantly assigns chores to me (cleaning, being his personal mailman on the university etc).

Having to clean up a laboratory space after using it is very reasonable. In my branch of the academic world at least (North America), cleaning up after other people is a paid job, not part of an internship. Similarly, mail delivery is the sort of thing for which someone is usually paid an hourly wage. If you are doing some of this and some of something else, it might be okay if the something else were especially attractive and rewarding. But given that you're not, it sounds to me that you're simply being exploited. Certainly I would feel that way if I were you.

Yet, he only has one paper, published 20 years ago.

Yikes. So the professor is probably not even research-active, or at least not to the level necessary for it to be plausible that he is the head of some kind of research team. He is not a good choice to supervise your research. In view of everything else you've said, I'm afraid that it seems likely that the business about your having a "proper foundation" -- especially in the context of his willful ignorance of the skills that you already have -- is just an excuse.

I would go to this professor and say that there's been a misunderstanding. You thought you were getting involved in a research internship, and as it hasn't panned out that way, you'd like to give notice. If he wants to change your mind, have him mention not just the prospect of future research "when you're ready", but actually nail down research that you can get started on right away.

It would also be good to speak to at least one of the other faculty members you've mentioned. I don't know where in the world you're writing from, so it's possible that your local academic culture is very different from mine. But unless you find out that it would be a big bridge-burning mistake to quit your internship, I think you should be angling for that outcome.

Answer 2

Your relationship has degenerated into mutual provocation, it sounds like. Not a healthy situation. Just try to get out of there as gracefully as possible. If you were being paid, it might be somewhat different. But in an unpaid internship -- well, it's reasonable for you to make yourself useful to some extent; but you should be learning and growing.

You might be interested to read what the U.S. government considers the definition of an unpaid internship to be:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.

See http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

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Edit

Should I talk to a professor about this topic?

Yes, that would be fine, as long as you can avoid whining or complaining. If you're past the point of talking about the problem calmly then it would be better to leave as soon as possible.

Answer 3

While your situation is tricky, from your description it sounds like you have a bit of an ego which is not helping you.

One sure shot solution to the problem is to let your actions speak for you.

For instance, try to apply your web development skills when your supervisor expects something done in HTML. Try to show how meticulous you are when you are given chores (I know it can get boring but may be you will rise in his eyes if you do chores in an impressive manner). Find out what he is doing and has done in the recent past and see if you can act on something that helps his work.