Faculty often struggle to find sustained time and support for scholarly writing. But the barriers many face—competing responsibilities, uneven service burdens, caregiving demands and inefficient institutional processes —are not only individual. They are structural and institutional. This means they are amenable to intervention.
Writing accountability groups (WAGs) are effective interventions for all faculty. These groups, which can be conducted in person or virtually, are a low-cost, high-impact practice that provides protected writing time, peer accountability and mentorship for faculty.
Data from a recent empirical evaluation I led, forthcoming in The Journal of Faculty Development, demonstrates that WAG participation is associated with measurable improvements in writing frequency, manuscript and grant submissions, and confidence among early-stage faculty in HIV, drug use and health equity research. Approximately 92 percent of participants reported working on a grant or manuscript during WAG sessions, and we found within-person increases in reported grant and manuscript submissions over time.
Beyond productivity metrics, WAGs create a consistent, replicable and nonhierarchical space for feedback and encouragement. This, in turn, bolsters peer learning and belonging, and it is especially salient for structurally marginalized faculty who could benefit from such feedback and encouragement. Our WAG group included faculty of color and minoritized faculty based on their sexual orientation, who often report struggling with self-efficacy and self-confidence in academic spaces. Regardless of background, WAGs also can foster a stronger professional identity, reducing impostor syndrome (that is, recurrent self-doubt of skills, talents and accomplishments).
Writing Accountability Groups as Equity Interventions
Faculty diversity is usually treated as an employment or compliance issue rather than recognizing its fundamental connection to institutional success and scientifically rigorous knowledge production. WAGs are equity interventions, not solely productivity interventions. WAGs directly counter structural disadvantages in who gets to write, publish and win grants.
They do this in two main ways. First, WAGs counteract inequity by creating protected time and shared accountability. Structurally marginalized faculty, including faculty of color and first-generation faculty, are disproportionately disadvantaged by structures that presume time, resources and bandwidth they often do not have. In our academic system shaped by privilege, structured writing communities for all faculty are a fairness tool. Second, WAGs reduce social isolation and expand access to mentorship across faculty, which is especially important for scholars outside dominant networks.
Empirical data underscores the importance of professional networks: A 2016 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reveals that network reach, i.e., the number of first- and second-degree co-authors, was positively associated with academic promotion, highlighting the importance of mentorship and networking. However, structurally marginalized faculty often lack thoughtful mentoring opportunities. Consequently, WAGs equalize access to mentorship, networking and productivity-enhancing norms. From this perspective, WAGs are both resilience infrastructure for all faculty and equity interventions that can support structurally marginalized faculty.
Academic Productivity and the 2025 Intersectional Trauma Pandemic
Scholarly writing, the primary engine of academic success, is structurally inequitable. The expectation to publish “more, faster” assumes a level playing field that does not exist.
Faculty face myriad compounding pressures: funding instability, political scrutiny of research areas, burnout, caregiving loads and high service expectations. And the 2025 Intersectional Trauma Pandemic—entailing crises in public health, climate change, global economic stability and so forth—is further deepening the problems of unequal workloads and unequal environments for scholarly productivity.
Persistent inequities illustrate the extent of an unequal playing field. For example, Black principal investigators are significantly underrepresented among grantees from both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, with emerging research examining the determinants of these disparities. Although studies such as the Black Professors Study I lead at Columbia University will address this research gap via purpose-driven knowledge production, interventions are urgently needed now. In turbulent times, institutions specifically require low-cost mechanisms that stabilize research structures and improve community morale and faculty well-being. Because WAGs bolster faculty empowerment under conditions of institutional uncertainty, they are a strategic response to the turbulence and chronic strain that faculty manage.
A Call to Action
Institutions should not relegate writing success to individual grit or chance. WAGs provide a concrete mechanism aligned with the daily realities of faculty work. They are aligned with institutional values and require minimal resources (e.g., limited facilitation). Universities should adopt them strategically and intentionally for productivity and equity, not as fringe or optional add-ons. This can increase faculty empowerment and support faculty retention because WAGs increase work satisfaction (through fostering a sense of community) and increase productivity (through time spent on academic products that enable faculty to meet promotion and tenure criteria).
This spring, Columbia launched a universitywide WAG, informed by lessons from prior WAG implementations. By adopting WAGs as an institutional policy choice, we aim to support all faculty and address unequal workloads. We also will engage in evaluation to contribute to the literature of the effectiveness of WAGs, including as the effects of the 2025 Intersectional Trauma Pandemic continue to be seen. As higher education continues to navigate sustained uncertainty, institutional survival will depend on whether universities take immediate and strategic actions, like WAGs, that protect faculty empowerment and well-being.
Dustin T. Duncan is the associate dean for health equity research and a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. His research focuses on the social and spatial determinants of health equity, with particular emphasis on HIV and mental health, especially trauma. He is also the founder of the Dustin Duncan Research Foundation, raising philanthropic support to advance health equity research, leadership development and community partnerships.
