Promoting Writing as a Core Competency for Psychology Majors: Challenges and Opportunities

Writing is an important skill for undergraduate students to develop during their time in the academy. Psychology majors are no exception. Not only will strong writing skills weigh heavily in graduate school applications for those pursuing graduate studies, but also strong writing skills are important for many of the jobs that psychology majors may pursue after graduation. Acknowledging the importance of writing for undergraduate psychology majors, the American Psychological Association (APA, 2013) included writing as a core component of communication, which is one of five comprehensive learning goals for psychology majors. However, challenges exist to thoroughly incorporating writing into the undergraduate psychology curriculum. The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of writing for psychology majors and to describe the challenges and opportunities to include writing instruction in the undergraduate psychology curriculum.