Succession and Success: New Generation Capacity Building in Social Work Education Australia
Keywords:
Social work leadership, workforce, research capacity building, inter-professional researchAbstract
In the past decade in Australia, a considerable body of research into the academic workforce as a whole has highlighted a number of key issues for long-term workforce planning. The broader picture is of a rapidly ageing workforce, particularly in senior leadership positions, of increasing casualization of the workforce and of a shrinking pool of likely applicants ready to take up positions as they become available. These issues are reflected in the social work academic workforce raising questions about succession planning, sustainability of programs and the reproduction of the discipline. The evidence base for an examination of these issues in the social work academic workforce in Australia is weak. In this article we consider the nationally and internationally available research in order to explore the key challenges in building and sustaining a strong social work academic workforce. We conclude by advocating for a comprehensive plan for capacity building underpinned by more integrated relationships between practice and academic social work.
References
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). (2016). Accredited courses. Retrieved from https://www.aasw.asn.au/careers- study/accredited-courses
Agbim, K., & Ozanne, E. (2007). Social work educators in a changing higher education context: Looking back and looking forward 1982–2005. Australian Social Work, 60(1), 68–82.
AASW. (2012). Australian social work education standards. Retrieved from http://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/3550
Barner, J. R., Holosko, M. J., Thyer, B. A., & King Jr, S. (2015). Research productivity in top-ranked schools in psychology and social work: Does having a research culture matter? Journal of Social Work Education, 51, 5–18. doi:10.1080/10437797.2015.97 7123
Beddoe, L. (2011). Investing in the future: Social workers talk about research. British Journal of Social Work, 41, 557–575. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcq138
Bernard, C., Fairtlough, A., Fletcher, J., & Ahmet, A. (2014). A qualitative study of marginalised social work students’ views of social work education and learning. British Journal of Social Work, 44, 1934–1949. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct055
Bexley, E., James, R., & Akoudis, S. (2011). The Australian academic profession in transition. Addressing the challenge of reconceptualising academic work and regenerating the academic workforce. Commissioned report prepared for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.http://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/ data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1490923/ The_Academic_Profession_in_Transition_Sept2011.pdf
Blakemore, T., & Howard, A. (2015). Engaging undergraduate social work students in research through experience based learning. Social Work Education, 34(7), 861 880. doi:10.1080/02615479.2015.1065809
Bradley Review. (2008, December). Review of Australian higher education final report. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Retrieved from http://Deewr.gov.au
Brew, A., Boud, D., Sang Un Namgung, Lucas, L., & Crawford, K. (2015). Research productivity and academic’s conceptions of research. Higher Education, 71(5), 681–697. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9930-6
Dickinson, N. S., & Fisher, C. E. (2015). Leading change: Partnerships to improve the child welfare workforce. Policy and Practice, 73(1), 16–19.
Drisko, J. (2014). Split or synthesis: The odd relationship between clinical practice and research in social work and in social work education. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42, 182–192. doi:10.1007/s10615-014-0493-2
Edwards, D., Bexley, E., & Richardson, S. (2010). Regenerating Australia’s academic workforce. Canberra, ACT: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Commonwealth of Australia.
Elston, J. K., Saunders, V., Hayes, B., Bainbridge, R., & McCoy, B. (2013). Building Indigenous Australian research capacity. Contemporary Nurse, 46(1), 6–12.
Fletcher J., Bernard, C., Fairtlough, A., & Ahmet, A. (2015). Beyond equal access to equal outcomes: The role of the institutional culture in promoting full participation, positive inter-group interaction and timely progression for minority social work students. British Journal of Social Work, 45, 120–137. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct081
Harvey, D., Plummer, D., Pighills, A., & Pain, T. (2013) Practitioner research capacity: A survey of social workers in Northern Queensland. Australian Social Work, 66(4), 540–554. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2012.754916
Healy, K., & Lonne, B. (2010). The social work and human services workforce: Report from a national study of education, training and workforce needs. Strawberry Hills, NSW: Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Hugo, G., & Morris, A. (2010). Investigating the ageing academic workforce: Stocktake. Adelaide, SA: National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems, University of Adelaide.
Karger. H. (2012). Lessons from American social work education: Caution ahead. Australian Social Work, 65(3), 311–325. Lyons, K. (2000). The place of research in social work education. British Journal of Social Work, 30(4), 433–447.
MacIntyre, G., & Paul, S. (2013). Teaching research in social work: Capacity and challenge. British Journal of Social Work, 43, 685–702. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcs010
Moriarty, J., Manthorpe, J., Stevens, M., & Hussein, S. (2015). Educators or researchers? Barriers and facilitators to undertaking research among UK social work academics. British Journal of Social Work, 45, 1659–1677. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu077
Norton, A., & Cherastidtham, I. (2014). Mapping Australian higher education, 2014-15. Carlton, VIC: Grattan Institute.
Orme, J., & Powell, J. (2008). Building research capacity in social work: Process and issues. British Journal of Social Work, 38(5), 988–1008.
Powell, J., & Orme, J. (2011). Increasing the confidence and competence of social work researchers: What works? British Journal of Social Work, 41, 1566–1585. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcr027
Pack, M. J. (2013). A tale of two programmes: Developing communities of learning with practice partners in social work and humanitarian studies at Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia. Social Work Education, 32(8), 1011–1020. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2012.745846
Paul, D. (2013). Creating change: building the capacity of the medical workforce in Aboriginal health. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 83, 55–59.
Scourfield, J., & Maxwell, N. (2010). Social work doctoral students in the UK: A webbased survey and search of the Index to Theses. British Journal of Social Work, 40(2), 548–566.
Sharland, E. (2010). Strategic adviser for social work and social care research main report to the Economic and Social Research Council Training and Development Board. Swindon, UK: Economic and Social Research Council. Full and Summary Report: http://www. researchcatalogue.esrc.ac.uk/grants/RES-068-31-0001/read
Sharland, E. (2012). All together now? Building disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research capacity in social work and social care. British Journal of Social Work, 42, 208–226. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcr061
Sharland, E. (2013). Where are we now? Strengths and limitations of UK social work and social care research. Social Work and Social Science Review, 16(2), 7–19. doi: 10 1921/3003 16206
Teater, B., Lefevre, M., & McLaughlin, H. (2016). Research activity among UK social work academics. Journal of Social Work. doi:10.1177/1468017316652002
Taylor, I., Sharland, E., & Whiting, S. (2008). Building capacity for the children’s workforce: findings from the knowledge review of the higher education response. Learning in Health and Social Care, 7(4), 184–197.
Tight, M. (2012). Academic staff in UK higher education institutions: Are they fit for purpose? Lancaster, UK: Lancaster University, Department of Educational Research.
Thomson J. (2011a). Australian social work education and accreditation standards (ASWEAS) review. Literature review (June 2011). Retrieved from http://www.aasw.asn.au/sitebuilder/whatwedo/knowledge/asset/files/47/asweasliteraturereview.pdf
Thomson J. (2011b). Australian social work education and accreditation standards (ASWEAS) review. Discussion paper (July 2011). Retrieved from www.aasw.asn.auon request.
Turner, G., & Brass, K. (2014). Mapping the humanities, arts and social sciences in Australia. Australian Academy of the Humanities, Canberra. Retrieved from https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:353680/UQ353680.pdf
Walter, M., Taylor, S., & Habibis, D. (2011). How white is social work in Australia? Australian Social Work, 64(1), 6–19.
Williams, C. (2014). The catalysers: “black” professionals and the anti-racist movement. In M. Lavalette & L. Penketh (Eds.), Race, racism and social work: Contemporary debates and issues (pp. 53-70). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education by Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research (ANZSWWER) is licensed under CC BY 4.0
