Motivations to become a master in social work: a typology of students

ABSTRACT

In the field of social work education, many studies address students’ motivations to become social workers. Most of these studies focus on bachelor‘s students in social work and confirm that altruistic and expressive motivations underlie students’ decisions to enter the social work profession. However, few studies focus on students earning a Master in Social Work (MSW). The purpose of this paper is to explore why students want to earn a master’s degree in social work. An online questionnaire was developed, and the results of six focus group discussions were used. The sample includes 116 graduates from the past 8 years and current students from the MSW programme at the University of Antwerp. We use exploratory factor analysis and identify two types of motivation. In line with earlier studies, we find that the first type is an expressive motivation. These students want to learn more about poverty and social justice and are motivated to improve the life conditions of vulnerable target groups. The second type is an instrumental motivation. These students are oriented towards the development of their professional careers.

ABSTRACT

Binnen het domein van sociaal werk onderwijs zijn er veel studies die de motivaties van studenten sociaal werk analyseren. De meeste daarvan richten zich op studenten uit de Bachelor Sociaal Werk (BASW). Deze studie heeft als doel een beeld te krijgen van de motivaties van studenten in de Master Sociaal Werk. We ontwikkelden hiervoor een online-vragenlijst en we organiseerden zes focusgroepen. De populatie bestaat uit 116 alumni van de voorbije acht jaar en uit studenten van het huidige masterprogramma Sociaal Werk (MSW) aan de Universiteit Antwerpen. Op basis van een exploratieve factoranalyse onderscheiden we expressieve en instrumenteel gemotiveerde studenten. Studenten met een expressieve motivatie willen zich verdiepen in thema’s zoals armoede en sociale rechtvaardigheid. Zij zijn gemotiveerd om de levensomstandigheden van kwetsbare doelgroepen te verbeteren. Studenten met een instrumentele motivatie zijn gericht op de ontwikkeling van hun professionele carrière.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• factor analysis
• student typology and motivations

SLEUTELWOORDEN:

• Sociaal werk educatie
• factoranalyse
• expressieve en instrumentele motivatie

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Bart Bozek is Junior Researcher, Herman Deleeck centre for social policy at the University of Antwerp. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied psychology and a master’s degree in social work.

Peter Raeymaeckers (Ph.D.) is assistant professor in the Master in Social Work programme at the University of Antwerp and is affiliated with the Center on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City (OASeS). His main topics of interest are social work research, social work education, human service organizations and organizational networks. He received a Ph.D. on networks among human service organizations.

Pieter Spooren (Ph.D.) holds master’s degrees in Educational Sciences and Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences and a Ph.D. in Social Sciences. He is affiliated as an educational advisor at the Faculty of Social Sciences from the University of Antwerp (Belgium). His particular activities are educational innovation and evaluation of the educational process and of educators. His main research interests focus on students’ evaluation of teaching (SET), in particular their use and validity, and the transition between secondary and higher education.

Notes

1. The names of the students in this paper are fictional to ensure their anonymity.