Responding to institutional climate change in higher education: the evolution of a writing group to group peer mentoring

ABSTRACT

Changes in higher education internationally, including the corporatisation of universities, greater codification of research and teaching performance, and more precarious employment, have led to a chillier environment for academics. Employing an autoethnographic approach, we interrogate our career experiences as academic women and the important role our writing group has played in helping us navigate the competing calls on our time and energy, shape our careers, and heighten our career satisfaction. There are salient lessons about the value of adaptive group peer mentoring for those entering what is an increasingly uncertain academic environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• writing groups
• women
• academic careers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes on contributors

Alison Sheridan is a Professor in Management at UNE Business School, University of New England, Australia. Her research interests include gender and management, corporate governance and regional development.

Jane O'Sullivan is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Media and Culture at the University of New England. Her current writing in fiction and creative-nonfiction draws on her research interests in Critical Animal Studies.

Josie Fisher is an Associate Professor in Management at UNE Business School, University of New England, Australia. Her research interests include business and professional ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Kerry Dunne is an Adjunct Professor at the University of New England, Australia. She has research foci of contemporary German literature and second language pedagogy.

Wendy Beck is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Archaeology at the University of New England, Australia. She is an Australian Teaching and Learning Fellow and has research interests in Australian Archaeology.