Influences on social work identities: Has the social work degree influenced student motivations to become social workers?

Introduction Motivations Policy background The Social Work Degree Evaluation Students’ motivations to become social workers Implications for social work education and practice

Why are motivations important? An influence on the quality and nature of the profession Informing recruitment strategies and supporting Newly Qualified Social Workers Balancing and interacting with other factors in deciding to become social workers – Availability of places – Image of social work (gendered?) – Level of support for the profession

Motivations to study Intrinsic and extrinsic – (self determination theory) Interest in a subject – Intrinsic nature of the subject – Extrinsic rewards of learning – Academic success, careers or increase in knowledge (Breen and Lindsay, 2002) Personal, professional or political motivations to do social work? Trends towards individualistic altruism motivations for social work over 30 years Different kinds of motivation can co exist – A ‘meaningful career’ which also contributes to ‘society’s wellbeing’ (Marsh and Triseliotis, 1996: 28)

Policy background Government plans for modernisation of public services Changes in social care New degree level qualification in social work introduced in 2003 Changes to post qualifying education Increased regulation of social work

Social Work Degree Evaluation Five rounds of survey data = 2933 responses – 13 motivations items, developed after discussion groups and from literature – Students asked to select all and then their most important Case studies 6 sites – data collected first and final year – Focus groups with students – Interviews with staff – Vignettes with students Practice Assessors survey Re analysis of GSCC data

Most common ‘selected’ motivations Helping individuals to improve the quality of their own lives (86% - 91%) Interesting, stimulating work (73% - 74%) Personal ability to get on with people (71% - 74%) Wish to tackle injustice and inequalities in society (68% - 73%) Variety of work day-to-day (66%-69%) Good career prospects (50%-67%)

Underlying motivational factors (PCA) FactorsOriginal itemsFactor loading 123 CareerGood Career prospects Well paid jobs Opportunities for flexible working Altruism or personal qualities of students Wish to tackle injustice and inequalities in society Helping individuals improve the quality of their own lives Especially suitable career for someone with life experiences like mine Encouragement from family and friends Day-to Day High job satisfaction Variety of work day-to-day Interesting stimulating work Being able to exercise individual responsibility for making my own decisions

Student’s characterisations Altruistic To me, the most overriding factor of people that need social services are, in fact, that they’re extremely poor. And my motivation is just to try and help someone achieve something that they want. And I think I’ll have done something if I can achieve that. Career I mean I have worked with homeless people and you know, I just thought it would be a good thing to do really, to get a qualification that would open up all the doors to me. So just working as a worker, rather than not having that qualification, I mean, it sounds really sort of awful, but I want a profession. Day to day nature of social work...And I liked the idea of being able to work with so many different types of people, in so many different settings, like the kind of flexibility and no day being the same. Not having to be behind a desk all the time.

Most important underlying motivational factors Most important motivationsN% Altruistic or personal qualities Day-to-day experience of social work Career factors33412

Complexity of underlying motivational factors Motivations mentionedN% Altruistic or personal qualities, Day-to-day experience of social work and Career factors Altruistic or personal qualities and Day-to-day experience of social work only Altruistic or personal qualities only1706 Altruistic or personal qualities and Career factors only 1144 Day-to-day experience of social work only171 Career factors and Day-to-day experience of social work only 120 Career factors only110

Stability of underlying motivational factors Motivational factor1 st Yr2 nd YrFinal Yr TotalCramer’s V p-value N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) Altruistic/ personal 1220 (70) 508 (68) 232 (65) 1960 (69) Career aspects206 (12) 86 (12) 42 (12) 334 (12) Day to day nature of social work 320 (18) 150 (20) 85 (24) 555 (20) Valid n1799 (100) 761 (100) 373 (100) 2933 (100)

Student characteristics: Career Black students (not including Asian or ‘other’ ethnicities) more likely than with white Men were slightly more likely compared with women Students with previous voluntary work experience slightly less likely compared with those having paid experience with a social work employer

Student characteristics: Altruistic or personal qualities Students in the three older age groups were generally more likely compared with younger students Students with experience of paid or voluntary work in a related field were a little more likely compared with students having experience of paid work with a social work employer.

Student characteristics: Day to day nature of social work Youngest students were generally more likely compared with older age groups Postgraduate students more likely compared with undergraduates Students having experience of paid work with a social work employer more likely compared with students with experience of paid work in a related field.

Conclusion Continuity with previous studies of Social work students’ motivations, Complex mix of career or work based motivations, and individualistic altruism, which remained dominant Personal history reflects good and bad social work Personal work history – students with experience of working for a social work employer more focused on becoming a professional? Social work seen as less racist, attracting black males? Paying close attention to students’ motivations and previous experiences can help: – Planning curricula, selecting and supporting students – Support NQSWs to transition to workplace reality

Research Team Glasgow School of Social Work Sharpe ResearchKing’s College London Joan OrmeEndellion SharpeJill Manthorpe Gillian MacIntyreShereen Hussein Pam Green ListerJo Moriarty Kate Cavanagh ( ) Stirling Martin Stevens Beth Crisp (Deakin)