2003:16 R
Social Work - a national review of the subject
The panel of assessors for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes has had the comprehensive task of following up the evaluation of programmes providing qualifications for social workers conducted in 1999/2000 and also evaluating programmes leading to the award of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in social work.
The panel of assessors to whom the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) assigned the task of evaluating research has also participated in the appraisal of postgraduate programmes in social work. This has enabled the National Agency to acquire a great deal of insight into the circumstances in which these programmes are offered and the conditions that apply for postgraduate students. There are obvious benefits to be derived from a coherent, holistic review of the way in which an academic subject functions from undergraduate level to its postgraduate programmes and research.
The National Agency´s overall impression is that social work is a well established subject even though it is, from an academic perspective, relatively new. The subject covers a wide field and there are extensive areas of potential research. In addition, there are expectations in the community that research and educational programmes will be influenced by problems currently facing social work in practice so that they can be of benefit to the social workers in the performance of their duties. The criticism - both positive and negative - expressed of the work of the higher education institutions should be seen in the light of these high expectations.
Training for social workers - a positive development
Developments during the three years that have elapsed since the National Agency evaluated these programmes for the first time have been positive. The criticism then expressed mainly concerned the level of the demands made of the students, the management of teaching and the integration of theory and practice. In the opinion of the panel of assessors manifest improvements have taken place in all of these areas. Each institution has based its development work on the criticism expressed earlier and this has, on the whole, borne fruit. The development project led by the Committee for Cooperation in the Training of Social Workers in Sweden has helped by providing support for the work taking place to improve quality. Another driving force can be seen in the development programme organised by the National Board of Health and Welfare - National Support for the Enhancement of Knowledge in the Social Services - which includes pilot projects intended to strengthen links between practical social work, training and research.
Greater diversity of recruitment to popular programmes
It is positive that the programmes offering training for social work have a greater capacity than many other higher education programmes to live up to the goal of greater diversity of recruitment. The National Agency for Higher Education notes that students are recruited from a broader social base and also that the proportion of students with immigrant backgrounds has risen in recent years. Issues relating to ethnicity and ethnic relations have also acquired greater prominence in social work programmes. For instance the departments in Stockholm and Malmö have developed special options on multicultural social work and the Mid-Sweden University College offers intercultural and international options. With the exception of programmes focusing on the elderly and the functionally disabled, on the whole there are more applicants than places offered on the programmes and enrolment requirements are high. From this perspective, the National Agency´s assessment is that there are excellent possibilities of maintaining a high standard of quality in the programmes. In addition to their social and ethnic diversity, the student populations on these programmes differ from those found elsewhere in higher education in other respects as well. They are older than the average student and many of them are single parents. Many of the students also have another job while they are studying.
The National Agency considers that on the whole the recruitment situation is positive. At the same time this means that a more innovative approach is required, both in terms of teaching and of organisation.
Gender and equal opportunity
Women predominate among the students. Only about 15 per cent are men. No trends can be seen to indicate that any change is taking place. However, the National Agency can note that there are good examples of attempts by various departments to reverse this development so that more men apply for programmes and complete them. At Göteborg, for instance, a group consisting of men has been created and at Malmö the “free" quota is used to enable preference to be given to men. The panel of assessors has been able to determine, however, that the gender bias reflects the pattern of enrolment and is not the result of women with better school-leaving grades outclassing men. The National Agency values the efforts being made by the higher education institutions to attain a more even gender distribution.
Low level of demands
In the previous evaluation of programmes offering qualifications in social work, the low level of the demands made on students was the overriding issue. In the opinion of the panel of assessors the higher education institutions have taken this criticism to heart. Many of the recommendations made by the previous panel have resulted in changes or planned changes that have not yet been implemented completely. Even so, the panel of assessors considers that the levels demanded in many programmes are still both low and inconsistent.
The National Agency takes a grave view of the criticism expressed of these low demands. The National Agency considers that the most important starting point if changes are to take place is agreement among students and teachers about the point of departure. This is not the case, however. The evaluation shows that there is often a discrepancy between the perceptions of teachers on the one hand and students on the other about the level of the demands made in the programmes. While the teachers consider that these are high enough, students express a contrary point of view. Many students claim that they do receive neither the intellectual challenges nor stimulus that they had expected of a higher education programme. Other comments are that it is the low demands that enable students to study and work at the same time. Only at Jönköping, the Mid-Sweden University College and Örebro do students fail to voice explicit criticism of the level of the demands made. The panel of assessors also points out that there are a number of factors that combine to inhibit the development of quality.
Many of the recommendations made during the previous evaluation seem still to be valid. The panel of assessors devotes some time to discussion of the factors to which particular attention should be paid. These mainly include the forms of examination, grading, the number of contact hours, links between theory and practice, and also how course evaluations should be devised to gain a true impression of students´ opinions about their programmes.
The National Agency urges the higher education institutions to continue to develop quality assurance measures on the lines recommended by the panel of assessors. Particular attention should be paid to the outcome where the level of demands is concerned.
Few students are awarded master´s degrees
Overall, the higher education institutions offer a wide range of programmes leading to a master´s degree. In the country as a whole, however, only a hundred or so students are awarded a master´s degree in any one year, almost half of them at Göteborg. Social work is not the only subject in which a low proportion of students complete master´s programmes but in relation to the number of professionally active social workers, about 25,000, the National Agency shares the panel´s opinion that a remarkably small number elect to study the subject at a more advanced level.
Increase in the number of places offered in new programmes for social workers
The panel of assessors raises several central issues linked to the number of places offered in programmes in social work and presents an analysis that should provide an excellent basis for the planning of the higher education institutions. There are good reasons to adopt a cautious approach to the rapid increase in the number of places offered, particularly in view of the availability of qualified teachers and adequate facilities for work-placement. At the same time the National Agency takes a positive view of the initiatives of the institutions in both developing new profiles in their programmes and increasing the number of places offered to meet the requirements of the labour market and the demand for qualified social workers. The panel of assessors is also positive in the judgements it makes of the new programmes that have been established. This applies in particular to the Jönköping University College but also to Malmö University College as well even though the programme there has only recently started. The National Agency considers it important for the continued development of programmes for social workers to take advantage of the innovative capacity that new programmes and the adoption of new programme profiles often testify to.
Teaching qualifications and lack of time to enhance these qualifications
The large numbers of students in undergraduate programmes and the further expansion of the number of beginner places planned at many higher education institutions gives rise for concern, however, about the future availability of teachers for programmes in social work. As the training programmes for social workers are also intended, according to all of the syllabuses, to lead to the award of a bachelor´s degree in social work, it is indisputable that there must be an adequate number of teachers with doctoral degrees in the subject. The teachers must also be provided with time for their own research and enhancement of their own qualifications. This time can easily disappear under the pressure of increased teaching loads. This means that expansion can contribute to the growing imbalance between research and teaching. In recent years great efforts have been made to strengthen the links between undergraduate programmes and research, and this has also led to improvements at a number of institutions. The National Agency is of the opinion that these gains may easily be lost as undergraduate programmes continue to expand. The balance between the allocation of time to teachers for their own research and for teaching is a vitally important issue that must be taken into account.
Postgraduate programmes and conditions for postgraduate students
The postgraduate students that the panel of assessors met gave the impression, on the whole, of being satisfied with their studies and with their working conditions. They are pleased with the freedom they enjoy in their choice of subject, the intellectual environment and the accessibility of their supervisors. On the whole there is a good supply of supervisors and at most institutions a system of assistant and principal supervisors has been developed. Other positive factors referred to were the quality of the taught courses and the possibility of participating in postgraduate courses at other departments. Theoretical aspects of the discipline were considered to be well represented but some question marks were raised about the balance between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The panel of assessors considers that quantitative research methodology should be given greater prominence at most of the institutions.
The postgraduate students studying in active and vital research environments can count on the support of their supervisors as well as other researchers and postgraduate students. In the opinion of the panel of assessors an environment of this kind provides the most suitable conditions for postgraduate study. One example can be found in the department at Lund, where the postgraduate programme is particularly successful. Conditions are, however, considerably less favourable for postgraduate students who are not incorporated into a research environment. The National Agency considers that there are grounds for drawing the attention of the higher education institutions to the question of how these postgraduate students can best be provided with support during their studies.
Those awarded doctoral degrees in social work are relatively advanced in years, and this is particularly true for women. This naturally limits how much time remains for senior research. The National Agency shares the view of the panel of assessors that even though the proportion of younger postgraduate students has increased it is still important for the higher education institutions to take active measures to influence recruitment to postgraduate programmes.
Great productivity despite the lack of postdoctoral fellowships
The National Agency observes that the most important factor for the success of postgraduate programmes seems to be that they are offered in an environment in which senior research is taking place. In other words a balance must be struck between postgraduate teaching and post-doctoral research.
The panel of assessors is impressed by the productivity displayed by researchers in social work despite the very extensive undergraduate teaching and even though the most qualified researchers have to apportion their working hours to a number of tasks other than research. There are a mere five postdoctoral fellowships in the entire country. This means that newly qualified doctors with a bent for research have little chance of a career in research. The National Agency concurs with the panel´s conclusion that the number of postdoctoral appointments, whether as postdoctoral fellows or research lectureships, needs to be raised.
The nature of postdoctoral research
One of the characteristics of the research undertaken at the departments of social work is, in the opinion of the panel, the very wide field it covers. For research in the discipline as a whole, the outcome is that it is difficult to find any delimited theme or sub-area in which extensive research with cumulative elements is being carried out. The quantitative analysis of the scholarly works submitted by the researchers suggest that this may possibly be occurring in the area of social work methodology and specialised areas such care of substance abusers, children in social care and the field of care. The National Agency would like to draw attention to the panel´s assessment that research would benefit from a tighter focus.
The National Agency´s overall assessment
In the light of the report of the panel of assessors the National Agency for Higher Education is able to determine that undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in social work maintain an adequate academic quality at the Universities of Lund, Göteborg, Stockholm, Umeå, Växjö and Örebro and also at Malmö University College, Mid-Sweden University College and the University Colleges of Jönköping, Kristianstad, Trollhättan/Uddevalla and Ersta Sköndal.
The University College of Kalmar lacks the qualified teachers required for the award of a bachelor´s degree in the subject. In addition, the panel of assessors considers that certain development measures are needed before the university college can be considered to meet the standards required to offer programmes at this level. The National Agency will make a decision on this issue separately.
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