Turning up the heat: collaboration as a response to a chilly research environment

This paper characterises the composition and activities of our academic writing group. The group consists of five women of disparate disciplinary backgrounds who meet regularly to present current work and receive constructive comment and encouragement, much of which is motivated and informed by a shared feminist consciousness, an appreciation of the role of collaboration and openness to multidisciplinary work. In these respects, our group comprises a creative response to a ‘chilly’ higher education environment where the pressures increase to publish or perish, at the same time as we face higher teaching loads and more administration. Different contexts will result in different groups. Here, taking the perspective of ‘insiders’, we reflect on the key characteristics that have contributed to the longevity of the group and enhanced the research productivity of individual members.