Heteronormativity Prevails: A Study of Sexuality in Norwegian Social Work Bachelor Programs

ABSTRACT

This article reviews how sexuality is addressed in the curricula of Norwegian social work bachelor’s programs. The purpose of the review was to examine whether heteronormativity was problematized in social work curricula. A keyword search revealed that sexuality was addressed in only 0.08% of curriculum materials in the 2013–2014 academic year (90 pages). Among the 6 articles identified that addressed sexuality, a thematic analysis showed that 5 problematized heteronormative assumptions, whereas 1 focused solely on problematic aspects of being gay and lesbian. The finding that heteronormativity was addressed in less than 0.08% of course content indicates that heteronormativity prevails. This study concludes that heteronormative discourses dominate the curricula of Norwegian social work bachelor’s programs. Suggestions for reorienting course content to address sexuality as a hierarchical construction producing otherness are presented.

Notes

¹ Since 2012 the Arctic University of Norway has had an obligatory six-credit course titled Diversity and Marginalization: Gender, Sexuality and Social Work, developed by Associate Professor Aud Kirsten Innjord and me.

² I calculated this estimate because educational institutions did not provide a more precise estimate of the number of pages, and it did not emerge from the reading lists. Hence, a BSW in Norway is prescribed as 180 credits (3 years). Based on what three educational institutions—Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Sogn og Fjordane University College, and Sør-Trøndelag University College—state as the norm for the number of pages, an estimate of 77 pages per credit was used. Because obligatory curricula are usually much smaller for the bachelor’s thesis (12 credits) and field practice (30 credits), the estimate of pages excluded these 42 credits, resulting in 138 credits, which yields an estimated total of 116,886 pages among the 11 social work bachelor programs.

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Notes on contributors

Merethe Giertsen

Merethe Giertsen is Associate Professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway.