Transitioning to Professional Practice: Experiences of International Master of Social Work [MSW] Graduates from Australian Programs

ABSTRACT

With increasing numbers of international students entering Australian social work programs, research has focused on the challenges of teaching these students due to perceived cultural differences and language comprehension. However, limited research has examined their experiences when transitioning to practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 international MSW graduates originating from 10 countries and residing across three Australian states. Participants’ transition to practice involved similar challenges to those described in research for the broader cohort of newly qualified social workers. However, for the current cohort, initial concerns are equally focused on “fitting in”, due to a learned perspective that their cultural and linguistic difference would inhibit practice. Drawing on ecological systems theory, belonging was influenced by contextual factors relating to levels of cultural diversity within workplaces; co-worker support; and participants’ sense of preparedness from their education. For all participants, these feelings of difference lessened over time, with some later reflecting that their cultural difference and lived experience was beneficial to their practice. Findings suggest that the strengths of these diverse students could be more readily recognised during education and the field, for improving preparedness for practice, and inclusivity in Australian social work.

IMPLICATIONS

• Problematising international social work students and focusing on their perceived deficits can erode graduates’ confidence when first transitioning to the field.

• The need for cross-cultural learning opportunities for educators, students, and field education agencies is highlighted for recognising the benefits of diversity and for improved preparation of early career social workers for the current professional field.

• Advances in training and education are needed in organisations where more culturally diverse graduates are securing employment, to ensure that international graduates are supported in early practice, and that diversity is valued in workplaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Social Work Education
• International Students
• International Graduates
• Cross Cultural Social Work
• Newly Qualified Social Workers

In 2019, Australia recorded its highest number of onshore higher education international student enrolments (Department of Skills, Education and Employment [DESE], 2019a), influenced by Australia's points-based migration system. By completing a qualifying educational program and securing employment in professions listed on the Medium-and Long-Term Strategic Skills List [MLTSSL], non-citizen skilled workers are eligible for invitation to apply for permanent residency in Australia. With social work's inclusion on the MLTSSL, international enrolment into qualifying educational programs have gradually increased, particularly since 2014 (DESE, 2019a), with the vast majority originating from Asian countries (DESE, 2019b). While the post-study experience of international social work graduates has attracted minimal research, emerging evidence suggests that their geographic mobility is more likely to occur domestically within Australia than internationally. The pursuit of permanent residency is therefore a popular choice for these graduates, many of whom choose a career in social work. This study explores the experiences of those graduates remaining in Australia and transitioning from social work student to practitioner. Understanding how these graduates navigate to, and within, their workplaces is vital, given the existing, contrasting, narratives about diversity. These narratives range from a focus on the deficits of international social work students (discussed below) to a valuing of diversity in contemporary workplaces (Blackmore & Rahimi, 2019); particularly that diverse workplaces provide better representation of an organisation's client demographic and improves decision making due to interaction between multiple perspectives (Blackmore & Rahimi, 2019).

Research conducted about international social work students over the last decade has emphasised the challenges involved in educating more culturally diverse students (Harrison & Felton, 2013; Irizarry & Marlowe, 2010; Zuchowski et al., 2021) in a discipline developed within a white western liberal democratic paradigm (Tascón & Ife, 2020). Culturally informed norms in social work appear to have influenced conceptualisations of these students in a homogenous or deficit-focused way (Ross et al., 2019). For instance, international students are described as having difficulties engaging with the expected learning style in social work education, notably self-motivated learning and critical reflection (Irizarry & Marlowe, 2010). In parallel, international social work students report feeling overlooked and marginalised in education, with some struggling with class discussions dominated by domestic students, or feeling misaligned with the discipline's dominant cultural values (Battaglia et al., 2018; Grace et al., 2013; Irizarry & Marlowe, 2010). Language comprehension, particularly of discipline-specific language, is focused on as a central challenge, both in coursework (Irizarry & Marlowe, 2010) and in field education (Harrison & Ip, 2013). Field education's theory-practice nexus can help international students improve language comprehension, and provide an understanding of cultural norms and social systems within a foreign setting (Harrison & Ip, 2013). Australian evidence suggests, however, that international students can be seen by social work field educators to require extra attention, again due to perceived language capacity and cultural differences (Ross et al., 2019; Zuchowski et al., 2021). Field education agencies can therefore be resistant to taking on international students, leading to lessened opportunities for learning and preparedness for practice (Zuchowski et al., 2021). It is not yet understood how these educational experiences impact international graduates’ preparedness, or confidence, when transitioning to practice in a complex and demanding profession.

The Australian Context for Early Career Social Workers

In Australia, social work practice settings can be complex, changing, and diverse including geographic context and community or field of practice, with new graduates working in a range of fields including family violence, health, disability, criminal justice, or mental health (Australian Association of Social Workers [AASW], 2023). Australian literature about early professional experiences for the broader cohort of newly qualified social workers highlights some of the commonly encountered challenges. For instance, a sense of professional identity, believed to influence social workers’ commitment to the profession and job satisfaction (Yao, 2021), can diminish when working within multidisciplinary teams where social work may be misunderstood, undervalued, or where professional values are not shared by others (Beddoe, 2013; Yu et al., 2016). Unanticipated workloads in settings where resources, including staffing, are limited can reduce capacity for reflective practice (Agllias, 2010), and lead to burnout and a lower retention of social workers (Chiller & Crisp, 2012). Additionally, organisations often expect new employees to “hit the ground running”, with early career social workers often more concerned about employment security, and the appearance of coping, than on self-care (Stewart & Fielding, 2022). It is important to consider however, that most research about newly qualified social workers, conducted in Australia and internationally, has focussed on the experiences of graduates, predominantly described as “white”, and who complete their studies and enter practice within the same geographic context (Battaglia & Flynn, 2019). It therefore appears that existing research has not adequately captured the experiences of the current, more diverse, Australian graduate cohort.

Theoretical Framework

Viewing international students through a deficit-focused lens locates the source of their challenges, and their solutions, with the individual (Harrison & Felton, 2013), rather than also on broader structural factors of education, organisations, cultural norms, and policy. This study employs a wider ecological systems lens (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) which simultaneously underpins social work (Langer, 2015). The study recognises that individuals are intrinsically connected to their environment, and that a focus on the “ecological systems” of individuals enables an understanding of how they develop, grow and sustain themselves over time (Rosa & Tudge, 2013).

The first and most proximal of layers within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) “nested” theory of ecological systems, the microsystem, involves individuals, the activities they engage in, and the closest relationships they engage with within a definable setting (Shelton, 2019), impacting the way experience is constructed. Mesosystems help explain the processes involved when an individual enters a new social setting, such as a new workplace; a process referred to as an “ecological transition”. Individuals do not directly interact with the third system, the exosystem, but are greatly affected by it, for example, government bodies which devise and enact policies stipulating the rights and expectations of graduates while seeking permanent residency (Robertson & Runganaikaloo, 2014). Finally, a macrosystem “encompasses the blueprint of the ecological environment”, that culturally shapes the relational processes within micro, meso and exo systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 289). The current study focuses on the experiences of international social work graduates transitioning to practice within Australia; how they construct their transitional experience; how various layers of social context can impact this transition over time; and how in turn, social environments may be shaped in response.

Method

Findings reported here draw from a subset of data collected as part of a broader doctoral study exploring the post-study experiences of social work graduates enrolled as international students in Australia between 2011 and 2018. This is a mixed method study informed by pragmatism, whereby inquiry is seen as a process of creating knowledge for change and improvement (Goldkuhl, 2012). Given the first author's experience as a domestic social work graduate, and involvement of her, and her supervisory co-authors in social work education and research, the study's design and purpose were grounded in social work values. The underlying principles of social work are well aligned with pragmatism, which, like ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), takes a person-in-environment perspective, recognising the way individuals shape, and are shaped by, the world around them. The mixed method design initially gathered descriptive, outcome-focused information about participants through an online survey published elsewhere. This guided subsequent interviews with volunteer participants to gain nuanced understandings about their post-study experiences. Pragmatic positioning enabled rich opportunity for exploring the structural factors influencing the unique and shared post-study experiences for this group, relating to migration policy, local perceptions of international students, social work education in Australia, and its position within a system of commodified education. Ethical approval for the study was granted in October 2018 by Monash University (Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee [MUHREC], approval number: 2018-15219-24623).

Sample

The sample comprised international graduates of accredited Australian MSW programs, who took part in the initial survey; volunteered for interviews four to 6 months later; and had secured social work-related employment. Eighty percent of participants resided in metropolitan Victoria. This is attributed in part to many volunteering from the authors’ affiliated university, despite a range of other avenues of recruitment used, including online announcements on social media platforms and on the AASW website.

Data Collection

Semi-structured interviews were conducted either face-to-face in locations chosen by participants, or online when participants were located outside of a reasonable travel distance. An interview schedule was devised based on survey findings, combined with core issues in the existing literature. These included: settling into early practice; social supports; relationships with co-workers or service users; professional supervision; and how well education had prepared participants for practice.

Data Analysis

Audio recorded interview data were transcribed by the first author and thematically analysed collaboratively with co-authors (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The initial phase of generating codes and defining themes was conducted deductively by searching the data for issues identified in existing literature, as well as inductively, by coding new information within the data. The latter, was informed in part by ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) by specifically considering the impact of various systemic levels on participants’ experiences of early practice.

Results

Interview Participants

Of the 49 survey participants (discussed elsewhere), 20 took part in interviews. Among them, 16 had secured social work-related employment and 15 qualified for inclusion (see Table 1). Participant identifiers (P1, P2, …) represent the sequence in which interviews were conducted and are used to protect anonymity.

Table 1 Participants’ gender, year of completed study, country of origin, and field of professional practice

Participant number	Gender	Year of completed study	Country of origin	Initial field of practice
1	Female	2017	Malaysia	Health
2	Male	2018	Brazil	Education
3	Female	2018	China	Family violence
4	Female	2018	China	Child and family
5	Female	2018	South Korea	Community mental health
6	Male	2018	China	Child protection
7	Female	2011	Taiwan	Refugee settlement
8	Female	2015	Indonesia	Health
9	Female	2015	Macedonia	Child protection
10	Male	2015	Hong Kong	Child protection
11	Female	2017	China	Family violence
12	Male	2016	India	Health
13	Female	2016	Vietnam	Health
14	Female	2017	China	Child protection
15	Female	2017	China	Cultural community

Participants’ Geographic Mobility

As presented in Table 1, six of the 15 participants were Chinese, while the remainder originated from a broad range of countries. With some graduating earlier than others, seven had worked in more than one job. Data relevant to their initial roles are drawn on for consistency in this analysis. Of the 12 participants commencing and completing their studies in metropolitan Victoria, 6 had secured their first role in the same locality; while 5 had relocated to regional areas: the Northern Territory [NT] (one), metropolitan New South Wales [NSW] (two; one of these later returning to metropolitan Victoria) and regional Victoria (one). Three participants had graduated in metropolitan NSW. One had remained in the same locality as their education, while two had relocated to Tasmania. The cities in which each of the participants resided are not specified for confidentiality.

Participants’ Early Practice Experiences

Analysis of data identified one overriding theme, labelled, “fitting in”; relating to challenges commonly reported by participants when first entering practice. Three sub-themes connected to these challenges, involve: (i) language capacity; (ii) the cultural composition of workplaces; and (iii) a sense of preparedness for practice. A second theme involves participants’ capacities to overcome uncertainties and realise strengths.

‘Fitting in’ with the Workplace

For most participants, entering practice involved some uncertainty about their reception into the workplace due to anticipation that language or cultural difference would problematise working with co-workers and service users. The perceived difficulty of these issues was influenced by the geographic context in which practice was entered. For those who had relocated to new geographic locations after graduating, this sense of difference was heightened. P13 described her transition into a healthcare setting in a large Tasmanian city to be challenging due her perception of foreignness. She stated, “In the office, they talk about stuff locally that I don't know about”. Similarly, for P14, a graduate who had relocated from metropolitan Victoria to metropolitan NSW:

Co-workers talk about how they spent their whole life in [city], and I’ve just started my life in [city], so I felt kind of stressed and like I always needed to catch up.

For P1, entrance into the field required learning to “small talk” with co-workers and patients in the healthcare setting she worked in, to “fit in” as a clinical social worker. She stated:

Coming from an [Asian] environment where small talk is considered a waste of time, and you don't small talk with just anybody … it's almost frowned upon

For some, a sense of difference from co-workers occurred alongside concerns about their capacity to carry out professional tasks. P11 stated:

I got a lot of feelings of being worried if I’m not good enough … Sometimes, I’ll look at my co-workers and question myself, am I as good as them?

For P14, concerns about her capacity for social work was attributed to her foreignness in the Australian state she had relocated to. She stated:

I feel not really capable of doing [my work role] because I just had relocated and changed a number of things [in my life] and some of the practice or the legislations [in the new setting] are different.

Despite these uncertainties, participants commonly described early practice to be well-supported by co-workers, managers, and supervisors. For instance, P1 stated how her co-workers had played a protective role in her initial weeks of clinical practice in a multidisciplinary setting:

My co-workers would see something that I didn't realise was close to bullying [from other staff] and they would report it back to my supervisor who would straight away get on to it

Other participants reflected on the importance of supportive co-workers for settling into poorly managed workplaces. P13 explained the role her colleagues played when her orientation into her clinical work role was “not structured” and where she “was left to [her] own devices”, stating that colleagues had taken it upon themselves to orientate her through professional and social support.

The Perceived Role of Language Capacity on Early Practice

For all participants, English was a second language, with nine using English exclusively in practice. Five participants used more than one language, while only one used their first language exclusively. Among those engaging with service users and co-workers in English, three described their lack of confidence when carrying out work duties in a second language. P5 stated,

Sometimes I get self-conscious … as I speak, I check everything … I play back … Did I say that right? Did I say it wrong? Can they understand?

For P10, challenges in language comprehension led to less confidence about his capacity to perform direct practice. Recalling a telephone call at a child protection service, he stated:

I couldn't quite capture what [the service user] was saying … she had very little patience and started blowing all this stuff … she said, ‘Do you have [an] education? Or ‘Where did you learn English?’ … You would have doubts about yourself and whether you can manage this kind of work.

In addition to the common challenges experienced relating to perceived language capacity, another area of concern for participants, was that connected to a sense of cultural difference within workplaces.

The Cultural Composition of Workplaces

Experience of initial entry into workplaces for most of the graduates often was influenced by their sense of belonging within that setting. This was commonly connected to the cultural composition of the workplaces, which were varied. For instance, P4 described her workplace involving “lots of CALD [culturally and linguistically diverse] people, CALD family and … CALD clients”; leading to a lessened sense of otherness, which she described feeling throughout education and when searching for employment.

Participant 15, a graduate employed in a culturally specific service in metropolitan Victoria, was more ambivalent. While reporting that she was “more comfortable working with people of a similar cultural background”, with fewer concerns about fitting in, she noted that working only with like-cultured people had led to a “decline in conversational English”. Her familiarity with service users also led to difficulties when trying to “keep the boundaries”, creating challenges in upholding professional standards in her work. After one year of employment in this setting, P15 expressed concerns that her integration into the broader community had lessened. Despite this, she expressed overall satisfaction with what her job provided her: financial independence, engagement with a professional field of interest, and capacity to work alongside like-minded people with whom she felt she belonged. Not all participants sought a sense of belonging specifically through cultural connections. For P7, belonging was sought more through a shared sense of workplace professionalism, which was not found in her first role at a metropolitan refugee service. She believed that workers at the service had secured their employment due to their ethnicity and “lived experience”, rather than professional knowledge, reducing opportunities for “cultural exchange”, and for her to advance professionally by learning from peers.

Participants’ sense of belonging also was influenced by the geographic context. With employment located across both metropolitan and regional settings, the degree of cultural diversity within workplaces varied. For example, P10 described feeling different to co-workers after moving from metropolitan NSW to a smaller town in Tasmania, for a new role in clinical social work:

When I was in [metropolitan city], I didn't feel different. But when I went to [regional city], I felt completely like an outsider, even though I was trained in Australia. It was a very white culture … dominated by people who grew up here and where there's not much interest in people with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Contextual factors clearly influenced participants’ integration into professional practice and this was impacted by the extent to which they felt education had prepared them for practice.

Participants’ Sense of Their Preparedness for Practice

When asked how well education prepared them for practice, the most frequently discussed issue was field education. For some, field education had presented important opportunities for understanding cultural norms in communication in Australia and for improving language comprehension. P1 stated:

[Placement] made me feel like I could understand how the working environment is, how people speak, how people communicate, because the way of communication is quite different in Asia.

P1 similarly reflected on her easy entry into a healthcare social work role, for which she felt well-prepared by her second placement in a metropolitan hospital:

Day one coming in here I knew what I had to do … psychosocial assessments that are done within different hospitals are quite similar, so it was easy to just step into the job.

The perceived quality of field education placements was varied, however, with some stating that the opportunities they had been given had not sufficiently prepared them for practice. P3 stated:

… for the second [placement] … it was not like a social work job. I think they had difficulty finding placements for students, so I shouldn't complain … I was doing like a support worker [for adults]. More like a carer; help with the clients, sometimes change their nappies.

Due to P3's lessened opportunity for learning during this final placement, entry into a family violence service required an initial phase of intensive learning and striving to “do things independently and with confidence”. Despite these challenges surrounding preparedness for practice and cultural/language barriers, all participants discussed that over time, these challenges lessened.

Overcoming Uncertainties and Realising Strengths

Participants described working hard to overcome the uncertainties connected to their perceived cultural difference, language proficiency and professional inexperience. Additionally, they were well supported by co-workers, leading to increased confidence over time. After working in her clinical role for 12 months, P1 stated:

It's less stressful … I feel a bit more stabilised. Now I know what I’m doing, and it's more of just professional learning at this point. Prior to that there was a lot of grappling with my own sense of self inadequacy

Similarly, P9 reflected:

Before I [was] concerned of my English, or my international status. But the more I’ve worked here, I think I’m more confident. I’m still new, but somehow, I feel like I’m capable of doing the job

For some, improved confidence with service users developed over time, with a realisation of their own strengths. For instance, P14 described learning to overcome her concerns about language capacity when practicing in a domestic violence service. She stated:

For me it's like … learning to be comfortable with my language … let the client know, ‘Can you slow down for this part for me?’, ‘Can you repeat it?’ Not feeling that it is my fault or my incompetence … [my language] is not as important as how can I support them right away.

For P6, overcoming uncertainties about language involved a recognition of his other capabilities during practice in a child protection role in the NT, involving work with Indigenous Australians:

English is not my first language … it's not one of my strengths. But I think I’m trying to cover it with other strengths of myself.

In addition to his key identified strength of relating to people, he described confidence also developing in response to the specific practice setting. In his child protection role with Indigenous families P6 described his affinity with service users due to his own experience of racism when living in metropolitan Victoria:

In [city] … they would judge your English. They say, ‘I don't want to work with Chinese people’, words like, ‘Ching Chong’, things like that … here I feel more confident sometimes, because some Aboriginal people, they don't speak English well

Beyond participants’ reduced uncertainty and confidence, some had realised that their cultural difference could indeed be a strength, rather than a weakness. For example, P5 reflected that her foreignness to the Australian setting had aided her practice in a metropolitan community mental health service:

I always felt that not being local was my weakness, but after working for a few months, I realise that I can actually see that as my strength … I think [CALD service users] feel more comfortable with me. Some of their problems I feel I can relate to them more.

The lived experience of otherness was therefore seen as useful for building trust with service users and navigating a complex system of services. This in turn, helped with the development of confidence and a sense of belonging within participants’ workplaces.

Discussion

For the broader cohort of newly qualified social workers in Australia, the transition from student to practitioner can be challenging due to social work's broad scope, contextual differences, and demanding nature. However, research about early practice for newly qualified social workers has focused on those of the cultural majority who are familiar with the locality of their workplace (Battaglia & Flynn, 2019). Given the growth in international social work students in Australia, and the likelihood that many will practice here, this study has examined their experiences when first transitioning to practice.

In this study, international social work graduates are shown to experience similar challenges to that of the broader cohort when first entering a complex and demanding profession. The importance of quality supervision, role clarity and co-worker support are confirmed as important protective factors for newly qualified social workers (Agllias, 2010; Stewart & Fielding, 2022). However, for the cohort in this study, additional challenges connected to cultural difference and language capacity are noted. This can be attributed to a crossing of “macrosystem boundaries” (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), involving unfamiliarity with the local culture, and local reception of this new and more diverse cohort of early career social workers; shown to complicate an already complex transition. A common influence on initial uncertainties about preparedness for practice appears to be that experienced during social work education, relating to a sense of otherness from teachers and peers, and a perception that cultural difference problematises professional practice.

Applying an ecological systems lens (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), such uncertainties arise across many levels in response to participants’ previous personal interactions within an educational system, influenced by: deficit-focused perceptions of international students (Grieve et al., 2021); exosystemic factors relating to the influx of international student enrolments into social work programs through migration policy (Beddoe, 2013); and cultural norms informing social work education (Harrison & Felton, 2013; Ross et al., 2019). Such experiences of education are reflected in literature suggesting that the cultural differences of international social work students are problematic (Battaglia et al., 2018; Ross et al., 2019; Zuchowski et al., 2021). Participants appear to have internalised this perception through the questioning their own capacity for professional practice in relation to these aspects of themselves, with the onus for overcoming such uncertainties placed predominantly on them.

However, through their persistence, an important turning point for participants coincided with learning that being an “international graduate” does not necessarily equate to lessened capacity. Participants demonstrated clear increases in confidence over time. Contributors to this involved the support of co-workers, leading to participants’ sense of value and “fit” within workplace settings, and participants developing the understanding that their own lived experience was advantageous for practice. Navigating a complex migration system in Australia, and the uncertainties arising when traversing the student–migrant nexus in a new country (Robertson & Runganaikaloo, 2014), provided a basis from which to empathise and provide support to service users in comparable situations. Additionally, having lived experience of otherness in the host country setting allowed the building of trust with services users who were not of the cultural majority, or whose first language was not English.

International graduates are also shown here to be well placed to fill gaps in multicultural settings due to the capacity for many to speak multiple languages. However, employment in like-cultured settings, while familiar, may lead to reduced cultural exchange with the broader community, thus heightening a sense of difference outside the workplace. With consideration of these varied outcomes, it should not be assumed that like-cultured field education placements are a positive learning strategy, or consistent with the professional goals or identities of this diverse group (Harrison & Felton, 2013).

For the many graduates practicing in a second language, while simultaneously entering a new workplace, such a transition can be challenging. However, over time, participants understood that whilst language capacity is important, alone it is not necessarily the cornerstone of successful direct practice, with effective communication being more than language comprehension. This is demonstrated by participants describing other ways of communicating, and building trust with service users that are possible, or desirable. Additionally, a greater sense of fit in the workplace is shown to involve acceptance of one's own language capacity and confidence to be transparent with service users and co-workers about this, shown here to be adequate for building trust and “doing” social work effectively.

Findings from the study also highlight the variability of social work practice contexts in Australia and the implications this has on early practice. For this cohort, the impact of varied geographic and professional contexts can be heightened, given that geographic mobility often continues after completing studies for those pursuing permanent residency or employment opportunities. Concerns about not fitting into unfamiliar subcultural settings, such as those in regional settings in Australia, highlights important areas of improvement in training and education in organisations where growing numbers of culturally diverse social work graduates are employed.

Additionally, the cultural composition of workplaces is varied in Australia, shown to heighten or ameliorate graduates’ sense of difference within practice settings. This study supports claims that cultural diversity can benefit workplaces, with diverse employees shown to bring with them a broader range of capacities and experiences (Blackmore & Rahimi, 2019), leading to improved services and cultural exchange between employees. This in turn, can equate to a sense of value and belonging for individuals, shown here to help build confidence, cultural awareness, and foster professional advancement. It is proposed that the profession's underlying value of respecting cultural diversity could be enacted more effectively by furthering its emphasis of the importance of cross-cultural exchange in education and in the field. This could be achieved through more cross-cultural learning opportunities for students, educators, and practitioners, through open discussion and training. In doing so, social workers could be more suited to the current professional field where valuing cultural diversity is becoming more of a necessity.

Limitations

Most participants (81%) completed their social work studies in metropolitan Victoria and came from a convenience sample of MSW graduates—many from the researchers’ affiliated university. Further research is therefore needed to explore these initial findings, notably examining how different courses may educate and prepare students differently. Nevertheless, these findings provide important foundational understandings about the experiences of international social work graduates as they enter professional practice in Australia.

Conclusion

This study has examined how the transition from student to practitioner is experienced by international graduates of Australian social work education. These findings contribute more inclusively to existing knowledge about the early practice experiences of newly qualified social workers, which has focused on domestic graduates of the cultural majority. This study shows that international graduates experienced similar challenges when entering early practice. However, initial concerns relating to perceived cultural difference and language barriers featured highly in their reflections of early practice with service users and co-workers. Participants viewing their cultural difference and language capacity as deficits when initiating practice suggests that confidence for this group may be impeded during education, with diversity being problematised and international students being viewed homogeneously. It is important to consider however, that social work practice settings are varied, and as such, the transition to practice may not be experienced the same way by all. Despite this, all study participants managed their transition to the field over time, through persistence, and familiarisation with workplace settings and co-workers, with some later recognising their cultural backgrounds, language capacity and lived experience as strengths for practice. Findings from the study highlight the value of cultural diversity in the field and in education. It is proposed that increasing cross-cultural learning opportunities for all students and practitioners would benefit the profession, while improving the preparation of the current cohort of newly qualified social workers transitioning to a complex professional field in Australia.

Disclosure Statement

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