Professor rude or embarrassing you? (Dealing with it in 2024)

What to do if a professor embarrasses you

If your professor embarrasses you in front of the whole class, you should remain calm and don’t overreact. It will only make the situation worse, and it could make your professor continue the embarrassment. Instead, redirect the conversation to something positive or stop engaging with them altogether.

I know that it can seem strange to have a professor try and embarrass a student. However, professors are people too. I am not justifying this behavior because professors should always be ethical in every situation, but they might not know that they even embarrassed you.

And as I mentioned before, professors are people and they make mistakes. They can let their emotions get the best of them. They can become defensive. They can also lack social skills. Or they might just be hard on you.

I’ll give you an example. When I was in graduate school, I had a professor who called out my clothing style. I always worse athletic clothing, and they basically made fun of me. This was two decades ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

I ignored the comment, and laughed it off. But it definitely bothered me that someone in that position would belittle a student for absolutely no reason. And they did it in front of the entire class.

Sometimes professors don’t realize what they are doing. They could just be a bad professor or lack social skills. And with this combination, they could embarrass their students unknowingly.

So, consider the professor.

Is the professor purposefully trying to embarrass you?

Or is it possible that they have absolutely no clue they’re doing anything wrong?

Either way, it could be something that you address with the professor personally. You could visit them during office hours and tell them your concerns. Be polite and stay calm. Let them know the situation, and why it is a problem for you. Make sure you approach them without anger to avoid escalating a situation.

It can always be nice when someone approaches these situations with apathy.

You might say something like “I may be overthinking this, but when you did XYZ in class, I was quite embarrassed. Can you help me understand what you meant?”

Instead of talking to your professor about the embarrassment, you could just visit with them more often. Stop by their office during their office hours and have a quick chat about their research. Start buttering them up. You can learn more about how to do that here in my guide about talking to your professor.

By doing this, it might actually make them treat you better during class.

If you aren’t prepared to do either of the things I mentioned, you should definitely leave a comment on the end of the semester evaluation about your experience. This way their supervisor will find out about it at the very least.

Sometimes courses won’t have evaluations, so you might not have that opportunity. In that case, you can always go to their supervisor and discuss it.

Finally, if the embarrassment is really bad, you shouldn’t suffer through it. I don’t know how bad your professor is embarrassing you, but if you think that they are going too far, you can talk to your professor’s Dean and let them know.

If you don’t know who their Dean is, you can always find your college’s Dean of Student’s Office or something similar. Every university might call it something different but basically it is an office that can deal with student’s concerns. They can help you figure out how to handle this situation.

Why do professors embarrass students?

Professors might embarrass students because they lack social skills, and don’t realize what they are even doing or they may be using their power and authority to belittle students to make themselves feel better. Some professors might use the embarrassment as an opportunity to show dominance in the classroom too.

Being embarrassed by a professor will never make sense to most people. I would think that a professor might be picking on students because they lack self-esteem themselves.

They could also believe that they are in a position to toughen up students for their careers if they are in a particularly difficult field. Or they might believe that they are weeding the weak ones out. These aren’t reasons to embarrass students but I am sure it happens.

It doesn’t matter the reason, professors shouldn’t do this because it can change a student forever. I have definitely been embarrassed by a professor as a student, and it isn’t fun. It caused me to shut down and never speak up in class again.

There is never a reason to treat students this way. And there is no excuse. But sometimes a student might get easily embarrassed and it was never the intent of the professor.

It could just be a complete misunderstanding.

Embarrassing students is never a good idea because it can make them scared to speak up during class, and for this reason, professors should be very careful of their interactions with students.

Are college professors allowed to insult students?

College professors may be allowed to insult students if they are not violating any university policies or breaking any laws. However, some insults could cross the line and might be discriminatory or perceived as bullying. But professors do have academic freedom and the insult would have to be investigated to determine if they went too far.

While I might have said that professors can insult students, I didn’t mean that they should. What I am saying is that professors might behave this way and nothing may happen to them.

The reason why this question is a hard question to answer is because every student’s perception of an insult might be different. What will seem like an insult to one student may not be perceived that way by another.

If you feel like you have been insulted by your professor, and you want to do something about it, you could talk to your Dean of Student’s office and find out if your professor crossed the line.

How do you overcome mean comments by a professor?

If your professor made mean comments to you, I would remain calm and be the bigger person in the situation. You could visit with your professor and tell them that when they said XYZ, you didn’t understand what they meant and it hurt your feelings because you want their respect.

I would have this conversation in person and during their office hours. I wouldn’t approach them during class or when other students are present. Your professor might be more defensive if other students are there.

If you don’t feel comfortable and don’t think you can have a civil conversation with your professor, you should definitely leave this information on the end of the semester evaluation.

Remember, I do not know what the mean comments your professor said were, and if they are really mean and crude, you may need to go to their superior and discuss it. This is especially true if they were discriminatory in any way.

It isn’t unheard of for a student to think that their professors are mean, but if you are being targeted or the comments interfere with your learning, you may need to bring it to the college’s attention.

If you don’t think the comments warrant any action on your part, you may just want to think about why your professor is acting like this. This can help you understand that their treatment isn’t as much about you as it is about them.

People who are usually mean to other people aren’t necessarily doing it because the person deserves it but because they have some internal struggles they are dealing with.

Professors didn’t go to school to learn how to be effective educators so they may lack the ability to teach. And professors don’t often get hired because of their people skills but because of their experience and research.

What you might get in a college, because of these hiring practices, are intelligent and educated people with an inability to effectively teach.

How should you behave with a rude professor?

If you have a rude professor, I would avoid them, and ignore their behavior. You shouldn’t engage with them more than you have to and try to be polite even though they are being rude. If it interferes with your learning or crosses boundaries, you could talk to their boss.

These types of professors are likely dealing with something internally that is causing them to act out rudely to their students. It isn’t fair and it isn’t warranted.

When your professor is rude, I would stay clear of them. They may target students who challenge them.

You also might find that if you visit them in person, they are an entirely different person. Sometimes professors might be mean during class, but are different behind closed doors.

If you can muster up the confidence to talk to them during office hours and make some small talk, I think it would help them get to know you and respect you more.

You could stop by and talk about their research, a textbook they authored, or something new in their field. Get their attention and let them talk about themselves. They’ll probably feel flattered and may treat you better.

Again, having a rude professor isn’t ideal, and some behaviors shouldn’t be tolerated by the college. They may be violating the college’s standards and you should asses the situation to determine the best outcome.

Sometimes it might result in you ignoring the rudeness from your professor, talking to the college, or leaving a comment on their evaluations.

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