u/Patience_dans_lazur

This is aimed at really anyone with a supervisory function, in academia or industry. I don't know if it's the particular institution I moved to two years ago, sampling bias or just that I'm slowing becoming a grumpy old man, but many of the students (mostly masters level) I've worked with lately have seemed to lack all ability or willingness to troubleshoot problems independently or otherwise take the initiative in their projects. There's this sort of passivity or even helplessness I don't know how to deal with. Is anyone else struggling with this, and how are you encouraging your mentees/trainees to develop a higher degree of independence?