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In computer science many conferences provide a fee discount for graduate students. This is ok, but many times these discounts are limited to full time PhD students, and not available for part time ones.

Now, part time students many times are less lucky than full time ones, as often they don't have any scholarship, so ideally they have less resources than a full time student; so why these discounts are only for full time students? It would seem more natural the opposite..

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    Which fields? I imagine any part-time STEM PhDs are spending the rest of their time working in industry and thus have money and/or a possible corporate sponsor.
    – Ric
    Jun 1, 2016 at 14:39
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    @Ric I did spend one quarter part time for medical reasons. However, that is unusual and the commonest reason for being part time seems to be a paid job.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Jun 1, 2016 at 14:43
  • Many student discounts (for museums, public transportation, car insurance, tax breaks, etc) are only for full time students. It's not just conferences.
    – ff524
    Jun 1, 2016 at 14:49
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    Presumably the assumption on the part of the conference would be that the student isn't paying any of the fees. In the case of a full time student, the fees would be paid by the more modest budget of their institution. In the case of the working-in-industry part time student, the fees would be paid by their comparatively wealthy employer. But this does seem to discriminate against part time students who are part time for personal reasons.
    – MJeffryes
    Jun 1, 2016 at 15:03
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    There are two questions here. "Is it discriminatory?" By the very definition of the word, yes, but that doesn't imply that it's illegal or inappropriate. "Why do they do it?" We can't read their minds; you should ask them. Honestly, this sounds less like a question and more like a complaint.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jun 1, 2016 at 15:05

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This is not discriminatory. A large number of full-time PhD students, mostly among top-tier schools, sign a non-compete type of contract that ensures that they will not have a job while attempting their degree. So for conferences awarding discounts on a financial need basis, part-time PhD students who typically have the liberty to work if they wish, do not qualify for this financial assistance. Of course corner cases exist etc. , but in general, this is the mentality.

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    Is this specific to a particular country? I certainly never signed any such contract when I did my PhD (in the US) and I have never heard of this being common practice in the US. I would disagree with your "nearly all".
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jun 1, 2016 at 15:28
  • I'll edit my comment from saying nearly all. But yes, in the US, it is common in the competitive Universities as part of the PhD program, that full-time PhD students have to agree to not work while accomplishing the degree. This does not exclude summer internships, however.
    – Sophie Gairo
    Jun 1, 2016 at 15:30
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    Can you point to an official policy from a US university that requires full-time PhD students to agree not to work? As I said, I've never heard of this.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jun 1, 2016 at 15:31
  • @NateEldredge I can't find a reference online, but when I did my masters, graduate teaching assistants were not allowed to hold outside employment. Though I admit that's (1) not all full-time students (2) in the humanities but I feel like it was a general university thing and (3) it was not enforced —I worked an extra 20hrs/wk at the library. I was told the reason was they didn't want diverted attentions, it had nothing to do with non-competes.
    – user0721090601
    Jun 1, 2016 at 16:38
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    @NateEldredge UPenn: "The Department expects full time effort in return for its support during the five years of the program. Thus, students may not engage in outside employment while on departmental support" MIT Policy: odge.mit.edu/gpp/assistance/employment/…
    – Sophie Gairo
    Jun 1, 2016 at 17:02

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