Abstract

Writing is central to university education and disciplinary specialization, but studies that contrast curricular and formative areas are scarce. This study aims to explore experiences with writing and its teaching among students in six disciplinary areas (Arts, Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Pedagogy in Science and Engineering) and three formative stages (entry, transition, and graduation) in a state, metropolitan, and highly selective university in Chile. Using four focus groups, qualitative coding was carried out through emergent categories with software assistance and following criteria for methodological integrity. The students identify the contrast between school and university in terms of writing demands, highlight the lack of formal teaching opportunities, and report self-managed learning of writing by trial and error. In advanced stages of Health Sciences and Engineering, the students question having received training exclusively oriented toward writing in professional contexts, while in Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities they regret not having been trained to write in work settings. The results show that students have flexible strategies to approach academic writing across the curriculum, but they also reveal an experience of institutional neglect in stages that are critical for student persistence, which underlines the urgent need to implement initiatives to support students throughout their education.