Why graduate students can't write: Implications of research in writing anxiety for graduate education

Bloom, Lynn Z

JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics 1981 print

Why graduate students can't write: Implications of research in writing anxiety for graduate education

Bloom, Lynn Z

Abstract

The author proposes that graduate students experience writing anxiety just as frequently as undergraduates, though their anxiety manifests in different ways due to differences in workload, maturity, and expected responsibility. Her conclusions stem from case studies of ten graduate students ranging in age from 23 to 49 and majoring in areas such as business, history, law, sociology, and English. From these case studies, she suggests that the main causes of graduate-level writing anxiety include problems with choosing appropriate writing topics, clashes with advisors, length of time spent crafting a dissertation or undertaking research for it, and problems inherent to graduate education, such as self-imposed and unrealistic expectations of perfection. Because of these issues, graduate students may tend to procrastinate and become just as apprehensive about writing as their undergraduate counterparts. The author suggests that both graduate students and their faculty advisors capitalize on some of the advantages the average graduate student has, such as increased maturity and flexibility in schedule, to find better solutions for overcoming writing anxiety. Potential solutions include increased communication, firmer deadlines for drafts and research, and striving for more realistic expectations from graduate study to combat the feelings of insecurity many graduate students have.

Journal: JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics
Published: 1981
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Subjects: anxiety, apprehension, graduate student, implication
Topics: graduate education affect and writing
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Why graduate students can't write: Implications of research in writing anxiety for graduate education

Abstract

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