What's Missing in Social Work Schools

Looking back at my time as a social work student, I often wonder if my professors could have done more to prepare me and my other fellow graduates about the reality of social work once we left the safety of our program.

Many of my social work professors were upbeat, experienced and determined.  Some sessional instructors were still working in the field full time while other professors had been out of the field for some time.  The courses I took ranged from social work history, policy, counselling skills, research methods and of course an unpaid internship.

Some of the best professors I ever had in school taught in my social work program.  They were often open, funny and approachable.  However, somewhere along the way honesty about the true nature of social work got lost.  Only brief mentions were put on work/life balance, compassion fatigue, physical and emotional risks, large caseloads and the pros and cons of working for a profit agency versus a non-profit.  High turnover rates and mass exoduses of social workers leaving the field were also skipped over.

Most of the social workers we got to meet, either through guest speakers or the professors themselves were happy about their career choices.  Few said how many social work jobs they had to try out first before finding the right fit.  Also, it would have been helpful to talk about personality types and unresolved traumas and how that impacts student enrolment.  I have read studies were a large portion of social work students have experienced significant trauma in their lives and have not received help for it.  Does attending the social work program then become a sort of therapy for them?  Or are they so focused on helping others overcome their experiences that they neglect to look at themselves and whether or not they can emotionally handle the demands of the field?  These are tricky questions no doubt since how do you completely quantify the reasons why someone goes into a helping profession?

Differences in pay depending on the organisation and job title would have been helpful.  A discussion on careers relating to social work in case somebody wanted to later branch out would have also been useful since there are many social workers that go on to be nurses, teachers or lawyers.

No social work program is perfect and all colleges/universities have a bottom line.  However, this field requires such an emotional and mental investment that it is worth having transparent faculties that show how difficult the field can truly be.