Social work faculty attitudes towards diversity and oppression content in MSW curricula

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has mandated teaching both multicultural diversity and oppression content since the first decade of the 21st century. Yet, little research examines social work faculty’s attitudes toward the content they teach. A national online survey of faculty teaching in accredited MSW programs across the United States was conducted to investigate faculty’s attitudes toward content related to diversity, oppression, and social and economic justice. This paper examines (a) faculty’s attitudes toward diversity and oppression content, (b) faculty’s perceived importance of content on social groups (e.g. different social classes) compared to content on oppression (e.g. classism), and (c) the factors that predict faculty’s attitudes. Findings revealed that faculty are generally supportive of most diversity and oppression content, with some notable exceptions. However, results indicated that faculty perceive content on diversity as more important than its corresponding oppression content. Lastly, faculty who indicated that their school had more resources on diversity and oppression reported higher perceived importance of including this content in their courses. The current study reveals there can be a discrepancy between how faculty think about this content and the CSWE curriculum policy. Findings have implications for education, workshops and training for social work faculty.