Young people, social workers and social work education: the role of digital skills

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses a key issue in the development of youth-focused social work: the role of digital skills in the relationship between young people and social workers who work with these native digital users. To this end, we analysed data from the International Digital Economy and Society Index 2019 and Eurostat. Information from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey and a survey conducted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence and the British Association of Social Workers supported the empirical analysis. The main findings reveal a gap between the level of digital skills required in the labour market and the actual level of digital skills in both young people and social workers, despite efforts by both groups to improve their skills. Initiatives to foster digital skills are therefore recommended to bridge this digital divide. Lastly, it was concluded that both groups could act as mutual drivers of digital transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• E-social work
• young people
• digitalisation
• digital skills

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See http://www.socialserviceworkforce.org/resources/blog/social-service-workers-mitigating-impact-covid-19.

2. See https://www.ifsw.org/ifsw-2020-online-conference-launched/.

3. See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcAObaBXhjB4CM-Q3XyPddw/videos.

4. See https://congresos.uned.es/w22392/.

5. https://europa.eu/youthonthemove/docs/communication/youth-on-the-move_EN.pdf.

6. https://www.ics.ie/news/importance-of-digital-skills-highlighted-by-council-of-the-european-union.

7. Figure 4 is estimated from Eurostat microdata.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antonio López Peláez

Antonio López Peláez is Professor of Social Work and Social Services at the National University of Distance Education (UNED), the largest university in Spain and one of the largest in Europe. He has been visiting scholar at the school of Social Welfare (UC Berkeley), Universidad Americana de Managua (Nicaragua) and the School of Social Work (Western Michigan University). He is the director of Comunitania (International Journal of Social Work and Social Sciences). He has authored numerous books, articles and chapters. He is the Director of the Research Group Koinonia, and Director of the Teaching Innovation Group DIPASO (Teaching challenges of digitization and public and social participation in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals). Outside Academia he is trustee of the Abracadadra Foundation  (https://fundacionabracadabra.org/es/).

Amaya Erro-Garcés

Amaya Erro-Garcésis Associate Professor at the Public University of Navarre (Faculty of Business Administration, Spain) and Tutor  at the National University of Distance Education (UNED). Holds a PhD in Applied Economics, a MBA and several postgraduate courses. She worked as General Manager in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Navarre from 2011 to 2014. Technical manager from 2003 to 2010, and technical staff from 1999 to 2003. She leads Kratos, a citizan association (think-tank). She had authored several books, chapters and articles. Her research was published in refereed journals, such as the Journal of Cleaner Production, Benchmarking, an International journal, the Journal Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (IJESB), among others. Her main research interests are teleworking, innovation and digital skills.

Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano

Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano is Associate Professor at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Faculty of Social Work, Cuenca, Spain). Holds a PhD in Social Anthropology, degree in Law and Bachelor in Social Work. He leads the Research Group Alter-Accion. His main research interests are Social work with migrants & refugees, Welfare policies and Economic Social and Cultural Rights. Fellow researcher at the KU Leuven University, Manchester Metropolitan University, College of Europe. He has led several EU Funded Projects and actually is the responsible for Communication and External relations at ESWRA (European Social Work research association). He is member of the editorial board of several prestigious peer reviewed journals. He has authored several books, book chapters and articles. Formerly he was Secretary General of Justice and peace, a Human Rights association.