Factors Influencing M.S.W. Students' Interest in Clinical Practice

Abstract

This study utilizes linear and log‐linear stochastic models to examine the impact that a variety of variables (including graduate education) have on M.S.W. students' desires to work in clinical practice. Data was collected biannually (between 1992 and 1998) from a complete population sample of all students entering and exiting accredited graduate programs of social work in California (n = 5,793). The influences of past practice experiences, professional motivations, socio‐demographic characteristics, ideological affiliations, and education and training experiences while a graduate students were all examined. Findings suggest that there is tremendous commonality in the variability of interest toward doing clinical practice among all student groups both before and after the completion of graduate studies. Male and female students, students of varied ethnic, social class and political identifications/affiliations, along with students of varied ages did not differ in their desire or interest to engage in clinical practice. The desire to prepare for private practice had the strongest influence—that was maintained over the course of their education—on students' interests in clinical social work. Desires to work with the poor were not associated with students' desires to be clinicians who wish to apply their trade across a wide variety of problems and populations.

Keywords:

• Clinical practice
• MSW students
• practice preferences
• private practice
• social work education

The author expresses appreciation to his doctoral dissertation committee (Dr. Leonard Miller, Dr. Leo Goodman and Dr. Bart Grossman, University of California at Berkeley) for guidance with respect to this research. In addition, the author wishes to express appreciation to the California Social Work Education for supplying the data that was analyzed for this paper. The California Social Work Education Center is supported by the California Department of Social Services with federal Title IV‐E support.

Notes

1. There was a reclassification of independent variables for analyses purposes as they relate to the importance that a series of fixed‐choice motivations had in students' decision to pursue an M.S.W. Here, the ordinal level variable was reclassified as a nominally classified binary variable measuring whether or not each motivator was an important factor (1/0) in a student's decision to pursue an M.S.W. Please note that the list of motivators is not exhaustive. There may be a multitude of other variables or motivators that were important factors in a student's decision to get an M.S.W. Given the most recent debate regarding the mission of the social work profession, particular note is made of the role that a desire to work with the poor or to do private practice had on a student's decision to go to graduate school. Although the importance of each motivator is examined separately, respondents were asked to rank which of seven fixed choices was the most important motivator in their decision to get an M.S.W. Here, a set of seven (nominally classified) mutually exclusive and exhaustive variables were created to indicate whether or not (1/0) each respondent rated a motivator as most important. Those who rated the general motivation to make “…an important contribution to individuals and society” as most important were excluded for baseline comparisons (this was the modal choice among respondents at Time 1 and Time 2).