A Look in the Mirror: Unveiling Human Rights Issues Within Social Work Education

Abstract

Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, this study explored the financial effect of the field practicum requirement on BSW students. This project was conducted at a mid-sized university in the Southwest region of the United States where current and recent field students responded to surveys and social work field instructors and faculty participated in interviews. The study describes financial burdens and reveals human rights issues affecting nontraditional and underserved students that have answered the call to a career of serving the most vulnerable in society. This study fills a gap in the literature and provides recommendations for further research and anti-oppressive approaches for the academy to employ in the education of future social work professionals.

Social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand: A difficult journey for student caregivers

“…The findings of this research support recommendations made by others (Gair & Baglow, 2018b;Hodge et al, 2021;Johnstone et al, 2016;Ryan et al, 2011) that social work governing bodies (in this case, the SWRB) need to consider travel and clothing subsidies and offer more flexibility in how student caregivers can meet their placement requirements. The study supports pleas from students and academics in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally for a more evidence-based approach to field placement requirements to ensure that they are workable for social work students (Hosken, 2018;Smith et al, 2021).…”

“…Those who are excluded from tertiary education because they cannot afford an unpaid placement may find themselves with more limited career opportunities and reduced possibilities for social mobility (Grant-Smith et al, 2017). This reinforces and reproduces existing social inequalities and is increasingly being recognised as a violation of fundamental human rights (Smith et al, 2021).…”

“…Students experience financial strain due to the increased costs associated with placement-travel, clothing, childcare and other placement needs. Financial hardship also occurs when students must reduce their hours in paid employment to undertake unpaid field placement (Meadows et al, 2020;Smith et al, 2021). To relieve financial pressures, students on placement end up making significant personal and financial sacrifices such as taking leave without pay, forfeiting annual leave for years, or selling their home (Gair & Baglow, 2018a).…”

“…It is easy to normalise the unpaid nature of student placements in the tertiary sector; however, a recent body of literature has established that unpaid social work placements impose barriers and hardships on non-traditional groups of students whose values and realities may not conform to those of the white middle-class majority (Hosken, 2018;Smith et al, 2021). In particular, the rigidity of placement requirements potentially excludes those with limited means of financial support or those (generally women) with caregiving responsibilities (Gair & Baglow, 2018b;Grant-Smith et al, 2017;Hemy et al, 2016;Hodge et al, 2021;Johnstone et al, 2016;Lister, 2003).…”

Looking Back to Move Us Forward

“…A special issue of the Journal of Human Rights and Social Work (2021) focused on field education as a method to teach human rights . It examined topics such as the training of field instructors, inclusion of human rights in different types of field placements or with particular populations, as well as human rights issues within field education itself, such as unpaid internships creating disproportionate impacts for povertyaffected students (Smith et al, 2021). Like social work faculty, many field instructors have not received formal training in human rights and may lack the competency to do this as they guide social work students' field practice experiences (Banks et al, 2021;McDermott et al, 2021).…”