Does anyone else find that the well-meaning trend in seminar of “first question from a student” tends not to succeed?
My proposal: THIRD question must be from a student.
Students usually need time to process the talk and build up the courage/conviction to ask it. And once faculty get the ball rolling it feels easier to raise your hand. I think it’s on hosts to check the vibe partway through and explicitly ask for students to talk, but at the start never seems to work well.
And by “not succeed,” I mean an awkward pause followed by the host relenting and letting a faculty member ask a question.
I know that waiting longer can help, but as a trainee that awkward pause stresses me out and interferes with my thinking of a question to ask!
@askennard I think it puts undo pressure on the trainees. Around me it's particularly difficult to get students to ask questions. I think the best approach is more subtle and requires a good moderator: When four people raise their hands to ask a question, three are old white males and one is a trainee, let the trainee ask the question. One can encourage questions from trainees, but making it mandatory puts a burden on them.
@JoseEdGomes I agree that the most important component of any potential strategy is a moderator that actually cares about the end goal of encouraging trainee participation, and acts deliberately to achieve that goal! Otherwise it’s just so much more meaningless posturing.
@askennard @JoseEdGomes
The moderator is really important.
If a talk is really bad, it's usually only the PIs who can come up with a cogent question.
I think a good moderator should know the seminar was a stinker and if so just let the PIs ask questions. If it was a fantastic talk, that is when to pause before picking a PI question or cajole students to ask questions.
Having the moderator choose the questioner is ideal, because the speaker usually has tunnel vision.