The Evolution of Doctoral Social Work Education

Abstract

Doctoral education in social work is evolving as a major enterprise in American higher education, with more than 80 programs now in place. Committed to providing stewards of the profession, these PhD and DSW programs also are a major impetus for research and are the primary faculty pipeline for the 735 CSWE-accredited professional social work education programs in the country. Past achievements, current challenges, and present trends are discussed here, along with the principal issues facing doctoral programs in the decade ahead.

Making it Work

“…Social work doctoral programs should focus on supporting all students in their programs, including mothers, reflecting the social justice values of the profession. The attrition of social work doctorate student mothers from doctoral programs and from academic positions post-graduation decreases the diversity of BSW and MSW faculty, and adds to the problem of insufficient social work doctoral program graduates to fill open faculty positions (Kurzman, 2015). These findings provide a window into how some women doctoral students experience their own success, accessing internal resources, and also highlight their attributions of success.…”

“…Attrition is a sizable issue within doctoral education (Bair & Haworth, 1999;Cockrell & Shelley, 2011;MacAlpine & Norton, 2006), especially in fields like social work, which is experiencing an insufficient number of doctoral graduates to fill open academic positions in BSW and MSW programs (Kurzman, 2015). This is problematic for institutions, programs, and students.…”

“…This is problematic for institutions, programs, and students. Programs and institutions may experience a financial impact from decreasing enrollments (McBain, 2019) and be unable to fill open faculty positions with qualified candidates (Kurzman, 2015). Doctoral students may experience a negative emotional impact from leaving their programs (McBain, 2019), and have often committed significant financial resources, made geographic moves, and given up other opportunities for graduate school (Cockrell & Shelley, 2011).…”

Understanding Sampling and Recruitment in Social Work Dissertation Research

“…Social work doctoral education awards two advanced degrees: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor in Social Work (DSW) (Diaz, 2015). The PhD, with an emphasis on research and scholarship (Kurzman, 2015), remains the dominant doctoral degree in social work. There has been a resurgence in DSW programs for advanced practitioners (Diaz, 2015), but these programs tend to value many forms of scholarship beyond empirical research and may not require a dissertation (Anastas & Videka, 2012).…”

The Social Work Education in Turkey

“…The first PhD degree in social work in America awarded by Bryn Mawr College in 1920 (Kurzman, 2015) After 67 years, the establishment of the first doctoral degree program of social work in Turkey awarded by Hacettepe University in 1987. Hacettepe University became the first and unique establish a doctoral degree program of social work in Turkey from 1987 to 2010.…”