Social Work Faculty's Attitudes Toward Marginalized Groups: Exploring the Role of Religion

Abstract

Social work faculty's attitudes contribute to creating inclusive and productive classroom climates when discussing racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Little is known about faculty's attitudes toward marginalized groups and the intersection of these attitudes with religion. This study describes social work faculty's attitudes about people of Color, women, and lesbian and gay people, and the relationship among these attitudes, religious affiliation, and religiosity. Results indicate religiosity predicts less accepting attitudes towards lesbian and gay people for Christian faculty; religious affiliation and religiosity did not predict attitudes towards women or people of Color. Intergroup dialogue is recommended for social work faculty learning.

Keywords:

• faculty
• religiosity
• race
• gender
• sexual orientation
• dialogue