The Value of a Social Work Degree: Public Social Service Agency Directors’ Views

Abstract

Social service agency directors are responsible for hiring social workers that have the knowledge and skills to serve vulnerable children and families. However, there are public social service agencies that employ social workers who do not have degrees in social work. While there are many reasons for hiring decisions, this study focuses on the views of 185public social service agency directors on hiring social workers with degrees in social work. For those directors who agreed that social workers should have degrees in social work only one theme emerged, this theme emphasized that social workers with accredited degrees in social work have specialized knowledge and skills that go beyond training and work experience. The overall findings from this study may be useful to aspiring social service agency directors, supervisors, educators, and mentors.