Dress Code

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wigflip said:
As far as students go, I'm more interested in substance than presentation. What I'd give for a classroom full of pajama-clad UGs if they were respectful, prepared, and attentive.
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I think the two go together. The pajamas are part of the attitude. Dress, IMO, has an influence on behavior, and reflects to some degree how much value we perceive a situation to have.
 
wigflip said:
As far as students go, I'm more interested in substance than presentation. What I'd give for a classroom full of pajama-clad UGs if they were respectful, prepared, and attentive.
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Good point. I remember many, many years ago when I was a lowly community college freshman. I wore torn jeans and a t-shirt to class and had a bad habit of chewing gum for the first few classes. The teacher yelled at me on the third class due to the gum-chewing (which shocked me a little) but at the end of the semester apologized to me as I was one of the top two in the class - he explained that he had me pegged as a knucklehead because of my presentation and he said instead that I was one of the most attentive students he'd ever had.
 
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Man, I just wore my hospital scrubs. Problem solved. :thumbup: :D
 
JeyRo said:
Good point. I remember many, many years ago when I was a lowly community college freshman. I wore torn jeans and a t-shirt to class and had a bad habit of chewing gum for the first few classes. The teacher yelled at me on the third class due to the gum-chewing (which shocked me a little) but at the end of the semester apologized to me as I was one of the top two in the class - he explained that he had me pegged as a knucklehead because of my presentation and he said instead that I was one of the most attentive students he'd ever had.
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the yelling was a confounding variable though....

torn jeans, t-shirt, gum... all fine. NO PAJAMAS! It is a new law!
 
JeyRo said:
Good point. I remember many, many years ago when I was a lowly community college freshman. I wore torn jeans and a t-shirt to class and had a bad habit of chewing gum for the first few classes. The teacher yelled at me on the third class due to the gum-chewing (which shocked me a little) but at the end of the semester apologized to me as I was one of the top two in the class - he explained that he had me pegged as a knucklehead because of my presentation and he said instead that I was one of the most attentive students he'd ever had.
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Hey JeyRo, check us out--agreein' and everythang :laugh:

I have to admit I probably would have been annoyed* by the gum thing (if it was noisy), but I like to think I spot the articulate, engaged folks within a couple of sessions, regardless of garb or idiosyncrasies. UGs give me enough pains for legit reasons (lying, cheating, sniveling, disrespect), I'm not going to bong the good ones for being comfortable.

In my book:

1. UGs wear what ya want. Just don't get me with the Supersoaker after class.

2. Grad students wear whatever ya want to class. RA and TA gigs depend on departmental norms, but I think dressing up for lab work seems a little extreme.

3. I wouldn't wear PJs on campus, but they are great for supermarket runs and the movie theatre on Xmas day.

*Oh, and your story made me salivate! I dream of being able to yell at the UGs. But for women that's spelled B-I-T-C-H on evals.
 
wigflip said:
*Oh, and your story made me salivate! I dream of being able to yell at the UGs. But for women that's spelled B-I-T-C-H on evals.
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I couldn't imagine yelling at students. I've actually passed by a few classrooms where I've witnessed profs/instructors doing just that (one just this week... I thought I had stepped into a grade school momentarily). Hell, I simply sit quietly for a few minutes, wait, look expectantly at my students, and that apparently unsettles some of them enough to still get called a b*tch. There's no "winning."
 
paramour said:
I couldn't imagine yelling at students. I've actually passed by a few classrooms where I've witnessed profs/instructors doing just that (one just this week... I thought I had stepped into a grade school momentarily). Hell, I simply sit quietly for a few minutes, wait, look expectantly at my students, and that apparently unsettles some of them enough to still get called a b*tch. There's no "winning."
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I have never yelled at students. I think I'd be called sexist :rolleyes:

Let their peers put some pressure on them - use your classroom to manage your classroom :D
 
I never yelled at 'em either. But I can dream, can't I?!?

When I was an UG, my psych TAs showed no such restraint. We got exposed to screeds about how tired and overworked they were, angry lectures about what boobs we were and how disappointing our last exam results/papers/fill-in-the-blank was.
 
I always recommend that you conform to what others at a site are doing. I tend to wear a sweater or dress and leggings for clinical work, though at one practicum, I am comfortable wearing jeans and a blazer. I teach on practicum days so I'm always dressed up by default. On non-client days, I'm often in gym clothes around the lab and department, and nobody has seemed to care much.
 
I think some of this may depend on type of research too. I forget that our research is significantly more invasive than that of many others. I think the dress code is rightfully slightly higher when you are sticking electrodes on people's bodies, asking them to pee in a cup, collecting saliva samples, handing them drugs, and sticking them with needles versus "Fill out these forms please". I'm guessing this plays a role in some of these experiences - otherwise I'm amazed people can get away with not dressing up for labwork. We don't even let the UGs wear jeans (torn or not!).

As for teaching, I use Pragma's approach - I have found guilt and shame to be far more effective motivators than yelling, as much as I might want to yell some days. Plus, I figure holding back means it will be more effective if I ever do need to yell:)
 
Initially there was implication that business casual was the dress for our PsyD program. About halfway through our first semester we all realized that it was unnecessary. Not to mention that when you're not working income to buy new clothes is next to nothing. I stay comfy in class and when situation dictates, dress in business casual. My particular practicum site is a residential facility and our supervisor said suits and formal business gear was not appropriate.

I figure if you're in a doctoral program you're fairly good at reading a situation and wouldn't show up in booty shorts or a tube top. That said, go with what you feel is right.
 
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PsychPhDStudent said:
I have seen students (non-clinical) in booty shorts, PsyD2015! In class. I'd take PJs over that any day. The student wasn't from the US. But...holy cow.
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It seems like half the girls at my university are in booty shorts most of the year. Yeah, its hot here in Texas, but the shorts could at least come halfway down your thigh! I do not need to see your butt cheeks, thank you.
 
PsychPhDStudent said:
I have seen students (non-clinical) in booty shorts, PsyD2015! In class. I'd take PJs over that any day. The student wasn't from the US. But...holy cow.
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Neither is appropriate in my opinion. There should be a base level of dress when one leaves the house. I also think that dressing has an influence on mood and function.
 
DoctorLion said:
Maybe this is a silly question, but for all of you who are in a Clinical Psych, Ph.D program and are doing your internship... Is there a specific dress code that you have to follow? I'm asking this question because at my school the Clinical Psych students happen to dress almost identically every day (especially the males). They do not wear typical suits. They always wear brocade shoes, slacks, a crew neck sweater and poplin shirt underneath (one guy likes to wear polka dots)... Occasionally someone will switch things up with a black turtleneck but thats about as risque as it gets. Their wardrobe always seems so clean cut yet not business-y. Extremely WASP-Y. It made me wonder whether Psychologists are trained to not only behave in a certain way, but also dress in a particular way. Any thoughts?
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I'm a bit of a dandy at heart, so I like to don the finer raiments when I can. But I'm also a bit of an eccentric, so I'm all in for experimentation when it comes to fashion. And I'm also somewhat street wise, so when I am making house calls in dodgy neighborhoods -- yes, some of us do get that privilege -- I dress in a way that is going to get me there and back without interruption. Otherwise I like to think I don't set out trying to emulate anybody, and I do not believe anybody should try to emulate me. But I have to wonder -- what to the dictates of fashion on the street, at school, or in the clinic have in common? Self-preservation? Is that the least common denominator we are clinging to? Is that the bedrock value by which we want to define our profession? I have to wonder what we gain by holding the line that there is some order of equivalence, across the infinite varieties of human situations, for all modes of dress and personal presentation, one

(I'll borrow heavily and shamelessly from a fav movie...)

-- holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interactive, multi-variant, multi-national dominion of [poplin? turtlenecks? sneeds?]. All necessities provided for, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And then what? It's every one of you out there that's finished, because this is no longer a nation of independent individuals. It's a nation of some 250 odd million transistorized, deodorized, whiter-than-white, steel-belted bodies, totally unnecessary as human beings and as replaceable as piston rods....The time has come to say, "is dehumanization such a bad word?" because good or bad, that's what is so. The whole world is becoming humanoid; creatures that look human but aren't. The whole world, not just us. The whole world's people are becoming mass produced, programmed, numbered, insensate things.
 
Buzzwordsoldier said:
I'm a bit of a dandy at heart, so I like to don the finer raiments when I can. But I'm also a bit of an eccentric, so I'm all in for experimentation when it comes to fashion. And I'm also somewhat street wise, so when I am making house calls in dodgy neighborhoods -- yes, some of us do get that privilege -- I dress in a way that is going to get me there and back without interruption. Otherwise I like to think I don't set out trying to emulate anybody, and I do not believe anybody should try to emulate me. But I have to wonder -- what to the dictates of fashion on the street, at school, or in the clinic have in common? Self-preservation? Is that the least common denominator we are clinging to? Is that the bedrock value by which we want to define our profession? I have to wonder what we gain by holding the line that there is some order of equivalence, across the infinite varieties of human situations, for all modes of dress and personal presentation, one

(I'll borrow heavily and shamelessly from a fav movie...)

-- holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interactive, multi-variant, multi-national dominion of [poplin? turtlenecks? sneeds?]. All necessities provided for, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And then what? It's every one of you out there that's finished, because this is no longer a nation of independent individuals. It's a nation of some 250 odd million transistorized, deodorized, whiter-than-white, steel-belted bodies, totally unnecessary as human beings and as replaceable as piston rods....The time has come to say, "is dehumanization such a bad word?" because good or bad, that's what is so. The whole world is becoming humanoid; creatures that look human but aren't. The whole world, not just us. The whole world's people are becoming mass produced, programmed, numbered, insensate things.
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Hahaha. Awesome...what movie? I think I'd like to see that.
 
Network! Any movie that can turn a line like "Nobody wants to hear about dying democracy and dehumanization" into laughers? pure genius.
 
PsychPhDStudent said:
Just want to be absolutely sure everyone knows: This was a grad student in booty shorts! Doctoral level!!!! :eek:
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Doesn't surprise me: I've seen doctoral students show up to classes/sessions in mini skirts & hooker heels. It's grand when you look like you're ready to go out for the night. :thumbup:
 
Psycycle said:
Neither is appropriate in my opinion. There should be a base level of dress when one leaves the house. I also think that dressing has an influence on mood and function.
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Of course it does. This is why my 4-year-old gets extra crazy (tries to jump off coffee tables, engages in extra fake Kung Fu fighting moves) when he puts on his Iron Man Costume.
 
paramour said:
Doesn't surprise me: I've seen doctoral students show up to classes/sessions in mini skirts & hooker heels. It's grand when you look like you're ready to go out for the night. :thumbup:
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Front row? Modesty panel?
 
paramour said:
Doesn't surprise me: I've seen doctoral students show up to classes/sessions in mini skirts & hooker heels. It's grand when you look like you're ready to go out for the night. :thumbup:
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Let's face it -- after this, the real problem would be figuring out what one could wear to the department holiday party. :rolleyes:
 
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