Social work doctorates in the UK Jonathan Scourfield Cardiff School of Social Sciences, UK

Two studies Study 1: A web-based survey of doctoral students – both PhD and prof doc - and search of the Index to Theses (funded by SWAP) Study 2: An survey and telephone interviews with professional doctorate programme directors (unfunded)

Study 1, part 1: The social work doctoral student population Web-based survey. The aim was to describe the doctoral student population and the topics being researched. Demographics: 32% male, 68% female 88% white Age profile

Age profile and mode of study AgeN% Under There was a significant association between age and mode of study. 73% of respondents are studying part-time

Employment and funding Number of yearsFrequencyPercentage N/A2317 Funding: 51% had their doctoral study funded by some source or other, 37 (27%) were self-funded and 23 (17%) reported a combination of the two Years of social work experience

Type of doctorate University Pre-1992Post-1992 FrequencyPercentageFrequencyPercentage PhD by research Professional doctorate PhD by publication 2611

Topic of doctorate Children, young people, families 43% Adult service users 20% Organisation, management of personal social services 13% Knowledge, theories, skills and/or values 7% Methods or settings 7% Education, training and professional development 5%

Research approach 57% reported that they were undertaking an evaluation of policy or practice 22% thought their doctoral project was primarily a contribution to academic theorising about social work 10% viewed their research project as an action research project where the engagement of local workers and/or service users in the research process was the most important aspect of the study’s impact

Research methodology MethodologyFrequencyPercentage Primarily qualitative7656 Mixed method4130 Primarily quantitative75 It is not empirical research64

Satisfaction Highly satisfied 30% Satisfied 48% 13% neutral 5% unhappy Arguably SW doctoral students have higher levels of satisfaction than the PGR body as a whole (c.f. Post- graduate Experience Survey)

Study 1, part 2: Completed theses Search strategy – Index to Theses relevant subject categories and the phrase ‘social work’ An average rate of 38 social work thesis completions each year

Topic and method Topics 34% Children, young people, families 19% Methods or settings 15% Adult service users 14% Knowledge, theories, skills and/or values 9% Organisation, management of personal social services 8% Education, training, professional development Methods 40% Primarily qualitative 8% Primarily quantitative 18% Mixed method 34% Not known

Study 2: Professional doctorate programmes The aim of the research: to map the provision of PD programmes Research methods – survey and telephone interviews

Mapping PD programmes How many programmes and where? How long have they been running? How many students are there? Nomenclature Structure What is working well? Relationship between research and practice

How many programmes and where? 14 universities: five pre-92 (‘old’) and nine post-92 (‘new’) How long have they been running? Year startedNumber of universities No data

How many students are there? Total 72 Mean 6 Mode 3 Median 3 Only two in double figures (17 and 22 respectively) What are the degrees called? Name of degreeNumber of universities Doctor of Social Work4 Professional Doctorate in Social Work2 Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care (or similar title) 4 Doctorate in Professional Studies (Health and Social Care) 1 Doctorate in Professional Studies1 Doctor of Professional Practice1 SocScD in Applied Social Research1

Structure – a full list of responses A systematic review; an empirical/field research study and a practice-based project - all about 30,000 words in length. 120 Masters credits: 10,000 word dissertation pilot study; 45,000 word thesis; 5,000 word assessment of thesis outcomes 160 credits at M level plus 40,000 word project 3x7000 word papers plus a 60,000 word thesis 2 practice analyses (about 10-15,000 words each) and a research proposal (5,000) plus research thesis (60,000 words) 2 years of M-level research methods + 50,000 thesis 3 taught years - with 3 modules (and 60 credits) each year plus a dissertation of ,000 words 4 modules plus 40,000 thesis 8 modules, 4 of which have to be passed at D level, plus 50,000 word thesis Part 1: Module 1 Review of Previous Learning and APEL claim plus Module 2 Planning a Practitioner Research Programme. Part 2 Work-Based Project/s - usually 1 large one, sometimes 2 smaller ones 4 modules plus 50,000 word thesis 6 modules plus 30,000 word thesis Phase 1: 3 essays/ project (17-18,000 words); Phase 2: project ( words); Phase 3: thesis ( words) Stage one consists of 2 M-level ‘macro-modules’: research methods (70 credits) and professional development (50 Credits) plus one 60 credit D-level module on project development, design and management. Stage two is a supervised work-based research project: 50,000 words

What seems to be working well? Collaboration with other disciplines Cohort identity Relationship between research and practice Little evidence, but.... Most programmes seem to be applied research doctorates rather than practice-based doctorates as in clinical psychology

Access to the research Both studies have been published in BJSW advance access Scourfield, J. and Maxwell, N. (2009) Social work doctoral students in the UK: A web-based survey and search of the Index to Theses. British Journal of Social Work, doi: /bjsw/bcn139. Scourfield, J. (2008) Professional doctorate programmes in social work: The current state of provision in the UK. British Journal of Social Work, Advance Access, doi: /bjsw/bcn139.