Examining the influence of colleges’ and universities’ religious affiliation on graduate social work education in the United States

ABSTRACT

Throughout social work’s history, scholars have debated the impact religiously affiliated colleges and universities have on social work education. Some have viewed religious affiliation as an asset contributing to training in values and ethics, while others question whether institutions’ religious commitments conflict with professional values. To date, no national study has examined the perceived influence that institutions’ religious affiliation has on Master of Social Work (MSW) programs. Drawing upon data from a national survey of MSW faculty across the United States, we begin to address this gap. Results reveal several ways faculty perceive their institutions’ religious cultures influence education and training on social work competencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• religion
• spirituality
• religiously affiliated colleges and universities
• CSWE competencies

Acknowledgments

The research reported in this article was made possible in part by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (#201900208). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation. The authors would like to thank the graduate assistants who assisted in gathering information for our national sample: Catherine Cain, Estie White, Anna Beard, and Andrea Skipor. We would also like to thank Kathryn Delk and Karleigh Conway for their support with reviewing earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by a grant from the Spencer Foundation [201900208].