A pilot study on our non-traditional, varied writing accountability group for historically excluded and underrepresented persons in STEMM

Abstract

Underrepresented faculty have higher burnout rates and lower grant attainment rates when compared with their non-minority counterparts. Many in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines, including underrepresented individuals, often have difficulty dedicating time to the writing process, with trainees often being relegated to laboratory tasks in their training years, resulting in a lack of practice in academic writing. Notably, past studies have shown that grant attainment rates of underrepresented individuals are lower than their majority counterparts. Here, we sought to consider a mechanism targeted to underrepresented individuals, although applicable to everyone, to help overcome traditional barriers to writing in STEMM. The authors have hosted a writing accountability group (WAG) that uniquely provides a format focused on physical activity and different forms of writing to strengthen both career development and award/funding attainment. Our objectives were to evaluate this unique format, thus creating a resource for individuals and institutions to learn about WAGs and expand upon the framework to formulate their own WAG. To do this, we performed a small pilot study (n = 21) to investigate attitudes towards the WAG. We present the results of a survey conducted among underrepresented WAG participants, which spanned different career stages and was highly diverse demographically. Our results show that following attendance of our WAG, individuals did not note a significant change in scales pertaining to John Henryism (high-effort coping), resilience, sense of belonging, or grit. However, significant increases were noted in the self-perceived ability to handle stress, confidence in applying for awards, appreciation for mentoring, and satisfaction of WAGs. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that our unique WAG format can have some positive results as a career and writing development opportunity and may be able to support underrepresented individuals in attaining funding at higher education institutions.

Keywords: Grants; Mentorship; STEMM; Underrepresented faculty; Writing accountability groups.

Fig. 1

Schematic depicting the layout of a typical WAG meeting administered for respondents.

Fig. 2

Pre- and post-WAG participation survey results for (A) brief resilience scale, (B) brief sense of belonging scale, (C) reversed brief perceived stress scale, (D) short grit scale, and (E) John Henryism Active Coping Scale 12.

Fig. 3

Pre- and post-WAG participation survey results for questions created to measure (A) how well WAGs improved finding mentors and understanding mentorship, (B) how well WAGs improved obtaining funding and understanding the grant process, (C) current lifestyle and improving lifestyle balance, and (D) understanding of what WAGs are and why they are important.

Fig. 4

Sample of grant attainment among our WAG. This includes undergraduates (n = 5), post-doctoral fellows or equivalent (n = 6), and faculty members (n = 10).