The motivation, professional development and identityof social work students in four European countries

Abstract

Four European Universities (University of Durham, UK; Universityof Jyväskylä, Finland; University of Ljubljana,Slovenia; and Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, Germany)have been collaborating on an EC-funded Erasmus Curriculum Development Project(2001–03) in order to enhance the European dimension intheir programmes of social work education. As part of this co-operation,a comparative study of the student groups in each country has beenundertaken. The aim of the study is to examine and analyse students’ beliefsabout social work as a profession, as well as their personal motivationsfor training as social workers and their aspirations for their subsequentcareers upon completion of their studies. A questionnaire was developedin order to gather data from all students at the outset of theiruniversity-based social work education in each of the four countries.In this article, the authors present and analyse findings from thisquestionnaire. In identifying and comparing the concerns of socialwork students from diverse cultural contexts at the beginning oftheir professional education, it is possible to identify some keythemes within, and test the concept of, European social work.