Interrupting Hetero- and Cisnormativity in Social Work Programs: LGBTQ+ Student Strategies for Increasing Inclusion

ABSTRACT

The Council on Social Work Education mandates that students be prepared to work competently across lines of difference. Research suggests that social work programs have inadequate curricula for preparing students to work with LGBTQ+ people, and can be unsupportive of the needs of LGBTQ+ students. Little is understood about the experiences of LGBTQ+ social work students who work to address these programmatic inadequacies. This qualitative study collected data from LGBTQ+ social work students in the US and Canada who had engaged in efforts to increase inclusion in their programs. A thematic analysis found that students used individual and collective strategies to increase programmatic inclusion of LGBTQ+ people and content. Participants also described the burden associated with doing this identity work.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Council on Social Work Education for the funding that supported this research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M. Alex Wagaman

M. Alex Wagaman is an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Edward J. Alessi

Edward J. Alessi is an associate professor at Rutgers University.

Jacob Goffnett

Jacob Goffnett is a PhD candidate at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Keith J. Watts

Keith J. Watts is a PhD candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University.

De’Shay Thomas

De’Shay Thomas is a PhD candidate at Arizona State University.

Megan S. Paceley

Megan S. Paceley is an assistant professor at University of Kansas.

Shelley L. Craig

Shelley L. Craig is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth at the University of Toronto.