Female Social Work Students Research Articles

‘Caring as a Female Concern’: Social Work Students’ Choices within the Boundaries of care

Abstract Australian social work university cohorts are increasingly made up of female, mature-aged students. The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) mandates a requirement of 1,000 h of unpaid field education across two placements, with full-time attendance as the norm. There is a growing body of research that suggests students experience financial, social, emotional and psychological stress during lengthy unpaid field placements. Yet little is currently known about the impacts specific to female students who have caring responsibilities at the time of their placement. In response, this initial Honours research conducted by a student with this lived experience explored the experiences of fifteen female social work students who had caring responsibilities at the time of their field placements. The analysis was situated in a feminist paradigm and generated five themes from the student responses, and this article focuses on one theme, ‘caring as a female concern’. The findings suggest that mature aged female students who juggle caring responsibilities, unpaid placement and other life responsibilities are particularly disadvantaged at the time of field placement, to the detriment of their own and their families’ financial, social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. It calls for urgent changes to the AASW accreditation standards.

Women’s education and empowerment in the Philippines: A community solution


 
 
 The Advocacy on Women’s Education and Empowerment (AWE) Project is a community action program based in the Philippines that was implemented after participation in the 2016 Community Solutions Fellowship for Global Leaders—a professional leadership development program for community leaders across the world that involves a four-month fellowship with a nonprofit organisation or local government agency in the United States. The inspiration for the AWE project was the Girls Getting Ahead in Leadership (GGAL) program of the Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE) in Minnesota. The AWE project empowers young women through a series of capacity building exercises, beginning with personal self-awareness, leadership development, conflict management, peace circles and gender and human rights. This provides opportunities for female social work students and young social workers to reach their full potential as gender and human rights advocates and leaders in the Philippines. This paper aims to highlight the role of social workers in gender and human rights advocacy at the local and international level, details the experiences, lessons and challenges of running a project which builds the capacity of young women, and promotes the role of higher educational institutions in building the skills and competence of future leaders.
 
 

Psychosocial Impacts of Distance Education during COVID-19 on Female Social Work Students and the Professional Role of the Social Worker

Psychosocial Impacts of Distance Education during COVID-19 on Female Social Work Students and the Professional Role of the Social Worker

Examining coping strategies used by Spanish female social work students: evidence for the importance of social problem-solving abilities

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the role of social problem-solving abilities in the coping strategies used by 310 female social work students from Spain. Results from comparative analyses of the coping strategies, used by students to deal with stressful situations, indicated the greater use of functional forms of coping (eg problem solving and cognitive restructuring), compared to dysfunctional forms of coping (eg problem avoidance and wishful thinking). Moreover, results from regression analyses indicated that constructive social problem-solving abilities, namely, positive problem orientation and rational problem solving, predicted the use of functional coping strategies (eg problem solving, cognitive restructuring, and express emotions). Alternatively, one damaging social problem-solving ability, namely, negative problem orientation, predicted the use of dysfunctional coping strategies (eg problem avoidance, wishful thinking, self criticism, and social withdrawal). Taken together, these findings provide an important first step for understanding what and how social problem-solving abilities might inform how social work students cope with stressful situations as they arise. Some implications for social work education and training are discussed.

An investigation of mental health and personality in Swedish social work students upon entry to university training

The aims were to describe Swedish social work students' personality characteristics upon entry to their training and to analyze relationships between personality traits, mental health, and some sociodemographic variables. One hundred and twenty-one female social work students completed a sociodemographic form, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the Symptom Checklist. They scored significantly higher on harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-transcendence and reported more somatization, obsessive compulsive, and phobic-anxious symptoms, and less hostility, than Swedish individuals from the general population of the same age. Personality traits significantly predicted the various mental symptom scores. It is recommended to implement modules or training courses within social work training in Sweden that bring an improvement of self-directedness and cooperativeness character trait into focus.

An exploration of female social work students’ participation in online and face-to-face self-help groups

This article reviews findings of a small, exploratory study of 45 female, masters-level social work students who participated face-to-face or online in course required self-help groups. Explored with both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were reasons for female students’ choice of group medium and satisfaction with peer support in both types of groups. A range of supportive acts and behaviors were reported in the qualitative data although there were few statistically significant differences in quantitative peer support scores when grouped by face-to-face and online group membership. Contributions from research on the relational theory of women’s development and group psychotherapy are suggested to help in developing online learning environments geared towards female learners.

The Role of the Government in Addressing Social Issues in India: The Perceptions of Indian Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Students

Using a convenience sample of 318 undergraduate and graduate social work students (193 women and 125 men) from a public university in India, this study examined the differences between Indian social work students' perceptions toward the role of government in addressing social issues in India. Using Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) 18, several statistical procedures were conducted to analyze the relationship between social work students' demographic variables and their perceptions of the government's role in addressing social issues in India. The results indicated that older social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities for citizens. Female social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure housing for citizens. BSW students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure employment of citizens. Macro social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities, housing, food, employment, and health insurance for citizens. The findings of this study may help social work educational administrators and faculty in India to develop a curriculum that provides social work students with the opportunity to critically examine the complex relationship between age, gender, marital status, number of children, socioeconomic status, educational status, area of concentration, and the role of the government in addressing social issues. Doing so will prepare social work students and professionals to think and engage in a manner that will allow them to challenge and advocate for a change to the status quo.

An exploration of female social work students’ participation in online and face-to-face self-help groups

This article reviews findings of a small, exploratory study of 45 female, masters-level social work students who participated face-to-face or online in course required self-help groups. Explored with both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were reasons for female students’ choice of group medium and satisfaction with peer support in both types of groups. A range of supportive acts and behaviors were reported in the qualitative data although there were few statistically significant differences in quantitative peer support scores when grouped by face-to-face and online group membership. Contributions from research on the relational theory of women’s development and group psychotherapy are suggested to help in developing online learning environments geared towards female learners.

Homophobia Among Social Work and Non-Social Work Students

This study compares degree of homophobia between social work and non-social work students. The results show that although social work students are not significantly different from non-social work students in their levels of homophobia, both male and female social work students are significantly less homophobic than male non-social work students. On the other hand, somewhat surprisingly, female social work students are significantly more homophobic than female non-social work students on the issues of whether homosexuality is a sin and whether homosexuality is disgusting. Implications for social work education are discussed.

Understanding Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa from an Attachment Perspective

Using the Attachment History Questionnaire (AHQ), 30 female anorectic and bulimic inpatients were compared to a control group of 31 primarily female social work students to determine the connection between anorexia and bulimia and early childhood attachment relationships. As predicted, the results indicated that the anorectics and bulimics differed significantly from the controls on all four subfactors of the AHQ: secure attachment base (Factor 1), parental discipline (Factor 2), threats of separation (Factor 3), and peer affectional support (Factor 4). Post hoc comparisons between the eating-disordered group and the controls on the fifty-one individual items of the AHQ showed that within Factor 1, the items involving feelings of being unwanted, alone, helpless, and of shame and guilt, clearly and significantly discriminated between groups. Within Factor 3, the item addressing the child feeling responsible for parental happiness produced significance. The results of this study are interpreted in relation to John Bowlby's attachment theory and the clinical implications are discussed.

Career Orientations of Female Social Work Students: An Examination of Sex Differences

Abstract This study examined the professional expectations and goals of female and male social work graduate students. The results indicated that, in general, female students did not have lower career aspirations or different professional attitudes than males. Differences were found in four areas, including (1) expectations regarding parental responsibility, (2) work values concerning leisure time and early retirement, (3) salary expectations, and (4) expectations concerning continuing education.

Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior: A Cross Cultural Study of American and Israeli Women

This study was designed to explore differences between Israeli and American Jewish women concerning their sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior. A total of 180 female social work students, 90 Am...