Boundary-Crossing Careers of Senior Human Service Administrators: A Cross-Case Analysis

Austin, Michael J.; Santo, Teresa Dal; Lewis, David

doi:10.1080/03643107.2011.564720

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Social workers often assist others with successfully making life transitions, but research aimed at helping social workers with career progression focuses mostly on transitioning between public and private sectors (Austin et al, 2012), changing service focus (Gustavson et al, 2020), or mitigating the negative impacts of retirement (McFadden et al, 2020). Social workers may look to more experienced colleagues to assist with anticipating their professional futures as the scholarly literature is devoid of a conceptual framework specific to social workers.…”

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confidence: 99%

Post-Master’s Career Progression of Social Workers

Apgar,

Dolan

2024

ASW

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Social work is one of the fastest growing professions in the nation with an expected job growth of 9% by the end of the decade and more than 62,888 Masters of Social Work (MSW) students in the United States in 2021 (BLS, 2022; CSWE, 2023). The receipt of a graduate social work degree represents an important milestone, often accompanied by entry into professional practice. While much is written about formal social work education, scholarly literature has far fewer articles about the work life of social workers after graduation. This article presents social work career progression from a developmental perspective, an approach that has historically been used to examine the life course of clients. Typical tasks or “milestones” in early, middle, and later stages of clinical or direct practice careers are discussed. Adapting life course theory to examine the professional evolution of social workers is beneficial as it helps illuminate the typical stressors facing practitioners after completing their formal education. Understanding potential career opportunities and issues may help those entering social work to better socialize into the profession and transition from one stage to the next by anticipating what lies ahead. Using a developmental perspective to professionalization is also appropriate as, like in the life course, opportunities for growth should be ongoing and lifelong. Early, middle, and later career opportunities and challenges are identified within the three pillars of social work – regulation, education, and practice. Policy reforms to enhance social work licensure portability, life-long learning in the form of continuing education, and self-care practices will assist social workers to thrive in all career stages.

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confidence: 99%