“God chose your biological parents for you but you have the second chance– please carefully choose your PhD. advisor.” This is an interesting joke in China to illustrate the importance of choosing a PhD. advisor.
Although the education system in China and the Chinese collectivistic culture contribute much to the dominant status of PhD. advisors, the power relationship between advisors and their students determines their dominant status regardless of education systems, cultural values, or social norms.
This does not mean students should worry about it. In the cases when an advisor intentionally takes advantage of students but provides no guidance (or even implying faking data and so on), please do not hesitate to switch labs, change research fields, or transfer to different schools. At the cost of one or two years, we can regain our confidence and passion in science and academia.
However, in most cases, “conflicts” between students and advisors are caused by misunderstanding, like in our lives. For example, when a student who always think out loud may have trouble with a professor who currently serves as the department chair, because the professor probably doesn’t have enough time to go through all the ideas the student throws to him during meetings. In the opposite case an energetic young professor may love such a student.
Therefore an advisor whose teaching style matches your learning style can increase your productivity without wasting time on communication or even worse, emotions. (Learning to deal with frustration is goal No. 1 in PhD. study.)
I suggest discussions about teaching-learning styles before making your decision. Sometimes we do not have many choices in a small department. Personally I would prefer to adapt my learning style to my advisor’s teaching style and remind him or her about the differences in styles when needed.
Professor-PhD. student relationship is more than merely teaching and learning. There are other aspects in terms of matching, such as passions in different research directions. No simple criterion can be provided for our decision making.
As a first-year postdoc who has closely worked with four advisors from torturing to flourishing, my solution is as follows: trust our professors. Be straightforward about our concerns. Be responsible for our research and for our own lives.