What Changes MSW Students' View on the Mission of Social Work?

Predictors of Feminist Activism among Social Work Students in the United States

“…Studies also find that sexual prejudice generally stunts feminist activism because heterosexist assumptions are integral to conventional gender roles (Ayres et al, 2009;Duncan, 1999;Montgomery & Stewart, 2012). Likewise, MSW students who scored low on just world scales were more inclined to advocate for women, people of color, and LGBTs (Han & Chun-Chung Chow, 2010;Morrison Van Voorhis & Hoestetter, 2006;Swank, 2012;Van Soest, 1996).…”

“…Some studies have also found that men in social work were more likely to accept traditional gender roles (Black, 1994), less desiring of gender equality (Spivey, 2006), and more oblivious to male privilege than their female counterparts (Taylor, 1994). However, gender differences might be less pronounced among social workers because there may be a higher proportion of feminist-identified men in this profession (Han & Chun-Chung Chow, 2010;Ritter, 2008;Rocha, 2000;Vinton, 1992).…”

“…The much-cited resource model of political science guides this study's theoretical conceptualizations (Brady, Verba, & Scholzman, 1995), as does the empirical literature on feminist activism among the general US populace (Ayres, Friedman, & Leaper, 2009;Henderson-King & Stewart, 1999;Liss, Crawford, & Popp, 2004). This work also taps the nascent literature on general activism among social work students (Davis, Cummings, & MacMaster, 2007;Han & Chun-Chung Chow, 2010;Rocha, 2000;Weiss & Kauffman, 2006) and employed social workers (Hamilton & Fauri, 2001;Ritter, 2008).…”

“…While social workers clearly engage in political activism for many causes (Collins & Wilkie, 2010;Han & Chun-Chung Chow, 2010;Ritter, 2008;Swank, 2012), the extent to which social workers do feminist activism is unknown. Empirical studies of social worker have ignored feminist engagements and have instead explored the gender attitudes of social work students (Black, 1994;Freeman, 1990;Lincoln & Koeske, 1987;Munson & Hipp, 1998;Seymour, 2012;Vinton, 1992) and professors (Woodford, Luke, Grogan-Kaylor, Fredriksen-Goldsen, & Gutierrez, 2012).…”

Perceptions of Macro Social Work Education: An Exploratory Study of Educators and Practitioners

“…They go on to note that field experiences are among the most critical elements in shaping social work identity, a belief that is repeated in much of the literature (Mor Barak et al, 2004;Zippay & Demone, 2011). Indeed, Han and Chow (2010) found that students who participated in macro level field placements in their second year of their MSW program were more likely to embrace a social-structural perspective of change. Macro field opportunities would allow new macro practitioners to practice the social work competencies identified by CSWE (2015a), as well as provide them with role models and mentors as they move into practice in an increasingly complex professional sphere.…”