Yup, just ignore as best you can whilst you finish your PhD.

A major problem with academia is some of the more senior people are virtually accountable to no-one, hence there is no check on their behaviour and they can become seemingly all powerful. There is thus a tendency for people to keep their heads down to avoid a confrontation with lets say the "personality professors".

Such people have to commit a serious misconduct before action is taken by the reputation conscious Universities. That said, you do get to hear of some spectacular downfalls at times and I suspect space 39 in the below make be very, very loosely based on a "tale" I heard. Hope it makes you smile. :-)

Ian

Mackem, Default, & KimWipes....thanks so much for the reassurance. It's true, I think in order to move on mentally and emotionally I have to just not care if these people are being petty with me (or snobby --or both, which is not cool). My partner told me to just keep on working, writing, publishing, and being nice to everyone. I'm sorry you all had or have to go through the same thing, Academia can be a weird and uncomfortable place and it seems we all need to learn to navigate it as best we can by concentrating on our research and keeping our heads down. If anything, these other petty academics just seem disappointing. Thanks for the kind words again :)

Hi all,

Need some comforting words or to hear other people's experiences. I met some young academics in both the US and the UK who are working in my small field. They all seem to know each other and are more advanced in their careers (I'm still finishing my PhD), and I can't recall if I had done anything rude but it seems like I am being shut off from these circles. It could or could not be related to a time I had to say no to one person's offer of collaboration (I just wasn't ready) but I have not ever said or have done anything to offend any of these individuals. I'm noticing now, that if I ever reach out to them via email or social media I am getting zero responses or acknowledgements, and am noticing that they only speak to others who are already published or prolific in academic blogging. Have I done something truly wrong in rejecting 1 offer from 1 person? Should I even care? Has anyone else experienced the feeling of being shut out of small academic cliques?