Academic writing: how to stay afloat

Agreed. This is very similar to the finding I gathered developing the Researcher Connect suite of researcher professional development modules for the British Council about 4 years ago. And why we built the core module around the 'who' and 'why' of writing, with more on the politics, tactics and strategies of getting a foothold in a competitive world where N American data and journals hold court (we left most of the technical writing tips to the gazillion and one existing providers). We were pretty proud that the government (through Newton Funds) would role this type of service out to partners across the globe, and assumed that the UK's own needs would also be met. Now working within a UK HEI it's very apparent that their are big gaps in support and I'm penalised for wanting to work and write collaboratively drawing on the richness and strength of many voices.

Interesting article. I think one point that could have been explored more is that a great many academics learn to write, not primarily from a supervisor or colleagues, but simply from constant reading of the literature in their field. Thus, the statement "You won’t become a competent swimmer just by reading a book" is a little irrelevant. Surely the real question is whether one can become a competent writer just by reading..and I think many tutors would argue that this is indeed possible. Of course, the downside is that, in a given field, a particular style of writing tends to become ever more prevalent..

While I personally think the article put a little more effort into the male-female analysis than is necessary, it brings up a good point. There are differences in behaviour between genders. In fact, there are bound to be multiple differences in behaviour in any given population, gender is just one way of differentiating broadly. The point is that by considering the differences and providing support as evenly as possible across the spectrum, we can provide more people with a fair chance to reach their potential in a given area of expertise. That said, I feel this article is less about how academics write, and more about how they survive and prosper in the profession. Well, what about other professions? Are academics the only ones with this issue? Does it only occur with writing? I haven't done the research, but it might be something relevant and worth exploring, especially as similar issues with gender can be expected in other professions.