Mutual aid on WhatsApp: reflections on an online support group for new and pre-tenured faculty

ABSTRACT The global COVID-19 pandemic has created increased isolation and a need for connecting in new ways. As pre-tenured faculty members at a school of social work in Ontario, Canada, the need to connect and support each other has been particularly important. The challenges of balancing new faculty positions and the demands of teaching, service, and research became even more apparent with additional workloads, difficulties accessing overwhelming amounts of online information, and increased isolation resulting from the pandemic. In response, this narrative describes the process of developing a virtual “pre-tenured faculty” chat support group, and the unexpected source of support it provided. Drawing from group work literature and personal reflections, this paper describes the mutual aid that was developed throughout this process and offers recommendations for creating similar peer support chat groups in academic and other organizations.