Baccalaureate Social Work Graduates: Reflections on Employment, Professional Identification, and Educational Preparedness

Professional commitment among graduating BSW students in Israel

“…In either situation, the decision to leave, facilitated in most cases by financial considerations, was typically presented as the result of an extended process of disengagement from commitment to the profession. These findings were consistent with those of similar studies in the US (Mahler, 1982) and Britain (Knapp et al, 1981). Mahler's conclusion with regard to social work graduates in the US was that 'perhaps more than anything else, being able to find employment doing social work will enhance graduates' involvement and commitment to the social work profession ' (1982: 84).…”

Actors in Search of a Character: Student Social Workers' Quest for Professional Identity

“…With only one exception, each of these students had previously held only one or two summer jobs that bore any resemblance to social work practice, most often as either a "camp counselor" or a clerical worker in a social service agency. In other words, these students had little direct knowledge of social work practice prior to the fieldwork practic~m.~ Like other social work students (Mahler 1982), the students in this study also found that their prior academic training was of little use to them in their capacity as neophyte social workers.…”