Practice development in social work: differences between social workers with a bachelor's and master’s degree

ABSTRACT

A process of academisation in social work is going on in Europe, as illustrated by the establishment of master’s programmes in social work (MSW programmes) at Dutch universities of applied sciences. These programmes prepare social workers for systematically improving their practice. The goal of this study is to examine the differences between bachelor’s- and MSW-educated social workers in the extent to which they engage in social practice development (SPD) activities, including linking, cooperation, evidence-based practice (EBP) and reflexivity, in daily practice. Data were collected from a survey among professionals with a MSW degree (N = 54), bachelor SW degree (N = 89) and MSW students (N = 43). The results show that social workers engage in SPD activities, however to a modest extent. MSW-educated social workers engage in significantly more EBP and Reflexivity than professionals with a bachelor's degree. After controlling for working experience and main task, education levels alone appear to have a significant effect on the application of EBP. To stimulate SPD and practice improvement, further development of MSW programmes is needed, the influx of social workers in MSW programmes must increase substantially and employers should facilitate social workers to engage in SPD by task or function differentiation.

SAMENVATTING

De laatste twee decennia is een proces van academisering van sociaal werk gaande in Europa. In Nederland blijkt dit onder andere uit de oprichting van masteropleidingen sociaal werk (MSW) aan hogescholen. Zij bereiden sociaal werkers voor op systematische pratijkverbetering. Dit vraagt van sociaal werkers een bepaalde professionaliteit die zichtbaar wordt in het kunnen uitvoeren van Social Practice Development (SPD) activiteiten: verbinden, samenwerken, evidence based practice (EBP) en reflexiviteit. Onderzocht is in welke mate bachelor en MSW-opgeleide sociaal werkers verschillen m.b.t. het uitvoeren van SPD activiteiten in hun dagelijkse werkpraktijk. Hiertoe werd een survey gehouden onder professionals met een MSW diploma (N = 54), bachelor SW diploma (N = 89) en MSW-studenten (N = 43). De resultaten tonen dat sociaal werkers SPD activiteiten uitvoeren, echter in bescheiden mate. Masteropgeleide professionals doen significant meer aan EBP en Reflexiviteit dan professionals met een bachelorsdiploma. Na controle voor werkervaring en hoofdtaak blijkt dat opleidingsniveau alleen een significant effect heeft op EBP. De bevindingen impliceren dat MSW-opleidingen relevant zijn voor het stimuleren van EBP en praktijkverbetering in het sociaal werk. Maar dit vraagt doorontwikkeling van MSW-opleidingen, een grotere instroom van sociaal werkers in MSW-opleidingen en taak- of functiedifferentiatie in sociaal werk organisaties.

KEYWORDS:

• Master’s programmes in social work
• practice improvement
• academisation
• evidence-based practice

TREFWOORDEN:

• Masteropleidingen sociaal werk
• praktijkverbetering
• academisering
• evidence-based practice

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Marion van Hattum for her participation in the research.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Bonferroni corrections showed that the differences between these groups were significant at the p = 0.05 level.

2 Bonferroni corrections showed that the differences between these groups were significant at the p = 0.05 level.

Additional information

Funding

This study was approved and financed by HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, which gave the first author a PhD scholarship.

Notes on contributors

Mariël van Pelt

Mariël van Pelt is professor in social resilience at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven the Netherlands, senior advisor at MOVISIE, a national knowledge centre on social issues, and PhD student at the Radboud University, Nijmegen the Netherlands. Her research project focuses on the question what master’s programmes in social work contribute to professionalisation of Dutch social workers.

Peter Sleegers

Peter J. C. Sleegers is senior researcher and consultant at BMC Consultancy in the Netherlands. His research and writing concerns leadership, school organisation, school improvement and educational change. Among his research projects are studies into the effects of educational leadership on teacher and student learning and longitudinal research into sustainable school improvement.

Rudi Roose

Rudi Roose is professor of social work at the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy of Ghent University. He is also the Editor in Chief (together with Jochen Devlieghere) of the European Journal of Social Work and chair of The International Social Work and Society Academy (Tissa). His research interest focuses on the development of socially just practices in managerial times and the development of ambiguous social work.

Giel Hutschemaekers

Giel J. M. Hutschemaekers has a chair in mental health care at the Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He is also senior researcher at Pro Persona, a large regional mental health organisation. Since the last decade of the twentieth century he has done several research projects and written several publications on professions and professionalisation in mental health care.