A call for action: Latinxs in social work education

ABSTRACT

This study examines the need for a culturally prepared social workforce to serve the nation’s largest minority group and provides recommendations to address this burgeoning issue. Using the same goal of population parity established by the 2007 Task Force on Latinos in Social Work Education, the authors (a) present an update on Latinxs presence in social work programs, (b) propose a theoretical framework and a conceptual paradigm to prepare future social workers to properly serve Latinx communities, and (c) introduce a case study designed to systematically address this issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Latinxs
• culture
• curriculum
• leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ We follow the Census Bureau’s definition in this article, which defines Hispanic/Latino as those who have origins in Mexico, Puerto Rico, or Cuba or are of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (Waters & Pineau, 2015). In this context, Latinx is a gender neutral term used in lieu of Latino or Latina.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spencer Foundation, award number 201600076.