Becoming Woke by the ASWB Pass Rates: A Closer Look at Racial Inequities in Social Work

ABSTRACT

There has been widespread outrage within the social work profession regarding racial disparities in pass rates of licensing exams developed and administered by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). The most supported remedy has been to eliminate testing for some categories of licensure with Connecticut, Illinois, and Rhode Island leading the way. Standardized testing has historically been a gatekeeping practice criticized for its exclusionary nature with no empirical evidence linking it to more competent mental health and other social work practice. Thus, the profession is correct in questioning an exam’s relevance in social work regulation. However, the licensure test has become a lightning rod issue preventing more substantive analyses, debate, and antiracist reforms within the profession’s policy, practice, and education arenas. This article uses the disparity in ASWB pass rates as the impetus for a more critical look at systemic issues in social work adversely impacting Black individuals entering the profession. The authors acknowledge that an anti-racist agenda in social work requires tackling long-standing problems that will not be as easily solved as eliminating multiple choice testing.

KEYWORDS:

• Licensure
• racism
• social work education
• testing disparities
• loan debt
• DSW

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Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.