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[locutus]

...and why on earth should new undergrads know the rules of our academic nomenclature, anyway? In the rest of the world "Mrs." is a polite term denoting respect. Even the ones who call me by my first name mean no disrespect.''

When I taught freshman I used to include a little 5 minute "What do I call my professor?" unit in the first days orientation talk. Students seemed to appreciate it.

I'm with Larry. They think they are being polite and don't know the difference. It's not like they are saying, "Yo, dogg, I need to ask a question." Tell them what to call you.

I don't like the presumption that I'm married, which is what "Mrs." implies. That's not a rule of academic nomenclature, it's a general social rule that you don't address women whose marital status you don't know as "Mrs."

I don't think most people know that. Particularity the 18-22 set.

[larryc]

Surely it is our job to teach these things.

[new_bus_prof]

Yes, child?

[inthelab]

Which is why telling students what you prefer to be called on day 1 of class is the best way to go.
No guesswork involved.

[medieval_spectacle]

...and why on earth should new undergrads know the rules of our academic nomenclature, anyway? In the rest of the world "Mrs." is a polite term denoting respect. Even the ones who call me by my first name mean no disrespect.''

When I taught freshman I used to include a little 5 minute "What do I call my professor?" unit in the first days orientation talk. Students seemed to appreciate it.

I'm with Larry. They think they are being polite and don't know the difference. It's not like they are saying, "Yo, dogg, I need to ask a question." Tell them what to call you.

I don't like the presumption that I'm married, which is what "Mrs." implies. That's not a rule of academic nomenclature, it's a general social rule that you don't address women whose marital status you don't know as "Mrs."

I don't think most people know that. Particularity the 18-22 set.

 . . . seriously?? I'm confused as to how one would not have picked this sort of thing up by that age. Has basic social knowledge really declined that much over the last decade since I was that age?

For what it's worth, I do usually tell my students how I prefer to be addressed so as to avoided the ever irritating "Hey!" That's mostly because they seem to get really confused, though, if they know the person in charge of their class is a grad student. I toyed with asking them to call me "Master Medieval_Spectacle" after finishing my qualifying exams and MA, but decided that would be silly . . . With this in mind, however, if one of them persisted in calling me "Mrs. Medieval_Spectacle" after being told to address me otherwise, I would get pretty irritated.

[larryc]

Medieval_spectacle I think you are conflating what you knew when you were that age with what most of your contemporaries knew.

[inthelab]

Medieval_spectacle I think you are conflating what you knew when you were that age with what most of your contemporaries knew.

But why should they know less?  Are they not products of the Information Age?

[msparticularity]

Medieval_spectacle I think you are conflating what you knew when you were that age with what most of your contemporaries knew.

Seconding this. Also, please remember that these children are the product of 12 years of rigorous training to call that person in the front of the room "Mrs." (And shockingly enough, many schools districts expect all teachers--including those who are unmarried--to be addressed this way because it is "more respectful.) I think it's fine to kid around with them a little bit about difficulty breaking the habit, if you put it that way, but I also think being angry that they can't immediately shift gears fails to recognize who they are and what their prior educational experiences have been.

Upon preview: The Information Age does not do much to distribute the cultural literacy of the educated sector.

[larryc]

Medieval_spectacle I think you are conflating what you knew when you were that age with what most of your contemporaries knew.

But why should they know less?  Are they not products of the Information Age?

I failed to make myself clear. I don't for a moment think that today's students know less about these matters than the students of ten years ago. I think that Medieval_spectacle, who is smarter than the average bear, is mistakenly assuming that everyone in his cohort knew as much as he.

[toothpaste]

. Also, please remember that these children are the product of 12 years of rigorous training to call that person in the front of the room "Mrs." (And shockingly enough, many schools districts expect all teachers--including those who are unmarried--to be addressed this way because it is "more respectful.)

Does this really happen? It's been making me nuts walking up and down the halls of my kid's school to see that every single teacher is listed as Mrs. and none as Ms. or Miss (or, God forbid, Mr.). Even the principal, who has a doctorate, is sometimes referred to as Mrs.

[locutus]

...and why on earth should new undergrads know the rules of our academic nomenclature, anyway? In the rest of the world "Mrs." is a polite term denoting respect. Even the ones who call me by my first name mean no disrespect.''

When I taught freshman I used to include a little 5 minute "What do I call my professor?" unit in the first days orientation talk. Students seemed to appreciate it.

I'm with Larry. They think they are being polite and don't know the difference. It's not like they are saying, "Yo, dogg, I need to ask a question." Tell them what to call you.

I don't like the presumption that I'm married, which is what "Mrs." implies. That's not a rule of academic nomenclature, it's a general social rule that you don't address women whose marital status you don't know as "Mrs."

I don't think most people know that. Particularity the 18-22 set.

 . . . seriously?? I'm confused as to how one would not have picked this sort of thing up by that age. Has basic social knowledge really declined that much over the last decade since I was that age?

I think people know in the sense that if you gave them a multiple choice test on titles they could remember. The degree to which people attend to these things in day to day life varies wildly. I don't think most students really think about it that much and just default to mrs=woman, mr=man, with no regard to marriage status.

[scotia]

If it was just the students....

I appear twice in this years Course Calendar (the description of all the courses that students use to make their choices). For the first course it says I am Mrs Scotai (with my name mis-spelled as well as the wrong title); for the second I am listed as Mr Scotia. The administrator who I talked to claims it cannot be changed because the online version has to match the printed version, and I must have filled in the forms wrong as they always checked very carefully. This was the wrong thing to say to someone sitting with copies of the forms - taken in case I needed to remember anything - which clearly say 'Dr Scotia'. For every other instance of my name listed anywhere I am Dr Scotia, so where this nonsense came from I am not clear. I am still awaiting the promised callback from the administrator's supervisor.

[msparticularity]

. Also, please remember that these children are the product of 12 years of rigorous training to call that person in the front of the room "Mrs." (And shockingly enough, many schools districts expect all teachers--including those who are unmarried--to be addressed this way because it is "more respectful.)

Does this really happen? It's been making me nuts walking up and down the halls of my kid's school to see that every single teacher is listed as Mrs. and none as Ms. or Miss (or, God forbid, Mr.). Even the principal, who has a doctorate, is sometimes referred to as Mrs.

Your observations cohere with the larger landscape of K-12 education. The only places I am aware of where people are called "Dr." if they have that degree are Catholic schools.

[midwestgrad]

Larry is surely right here, especially with regard to students from more conservative or rural backgrounds.  I'm from both a conservative and rural background, and when I was 18 and entering college, any adult woman was "Mrs." or "ma'am".  As a professor in a classroom, this is an opportunity to introduce students to more respectful and less degrading ways to address women in positions of authority.  The students probably aren't being malicious or degrading on purpose.

[baphd1996]

...and why on earth should new undergrads know the rules of our academic nomenclature, anyway? In the rest of the world "Mrs." is a polite term denoting respect. Even the ones who call me by my first name mean no disrespect.''

When I taught freshman I used to include a little 5 minute "What do I call my professor?" unit in the first days orientation talk. Students seemed to appreciate it.

I'm with Larry. They think they are being polite and don't know the difference. It's not like they are saying, "Yo, dogg, I need to ask a question." Tell them what to call you.

I don't like the presumption that I'm married, which is what "Mrs." implies. That's not a rule of academic nomenclature, it's a general social rule that you don't address women whose marital status you don't know as "Mrs."

I don't think most people know that. Particularity the 18-22 set.

 . . . seriously?? I'm confused as to how one would not have picked this sort of thing up by that age. Has basic social knowledge really declined that much over the last decade since I was that age?

For what it's worth, I do usually tell my students how I prefer to be addressed so as to avoided the ever irritating "Hey!" That's mostly because they seem to get really confused, though, if they know the person in charge of their class is a grad student. I toyed with asking them to call me "Master Medieval_Spectacle" after finishing my qualifying exams and MA, but decided that would be silly . . . With this in mind, however, if one of them persisted in calling me "Mrs. Medieval_Spectacle" after being told to address me otherwise, I would get pretty irritated.

Well, they pick it up when the parents of their friends tell them to call them by their first name.