Early Career Scholars' Perceptions of Support During Social Work Doctoral Education

Overview: This study examines how social work early-career scholars describe their experiences and sources of support, within their doctoral programs in the USA. We consider the ways in which these students experienced support, and whether their answers vary according to the type of program or institution in which they were enrolled.Proposal text:

Background: Doctoral education in social work plays a critical role in social work education. Doctoral students learn methods for research and knowledge development that influence our field through graduates’ scholarship, leadership, and teaching. For students in doctoral programs - both PhD and DSW - to develop into new stewards of the profession they need to support students to be successful. This paper builds on previous work to identify how doctoral program graduates perceive the supports and barriers they experienced in their education. The findings suggest directions for social work education on the doctoral level.

Methods: A web survey about the characteristics and experiences of doctoral students was distributed to a comprehensive list of 1471 untenured faculty in social work programs in the United States. This study is based on respondents who graduated from a PhD or DSW program between 2013 - 2019. We analyzed responses to 23 questions relating to perceived sources of support. Respondents rated each item on a scale of 1-7 (with 1=very little support to 7=very strong support). Using t-tests, we then explored whether answers varied according to the institutional characteristics of the respondents’ program (Research 1 vs. Research 2 or Teaching Program; PhD vs. DSW; Online vs. In-Person).

Results: Social work doctoral programs scored well in supporting students, with the mean response of 5 or higher, when it came to 4 items: 1) “Felt a sense of community in my cohort,” 2) access to people who “offer meaningful feedback on research”, 3) “push one to think differently”, and 4) “help you to be accountable writing and research”. No items produced a mean of a 3 or lower.
The majority of items fell somewhere in the middle with mean scores for “access to a safe space where you could process experiences in your program” and higher scores for “how to apply for a job ” and “how to prepare for a job talk.”
We then compared responses according to institutional characteristics. We found that students in non-R1 doctoral programs felt supported in learning how to teach their classes and in accessing people who could help them with personal health and well being. In contrast, those in R1 programs felt more support in locating and applying for external funding. When comparing those who attended programs with 20% or more online classes to those with few online classes, those with more online classes reported higher levels of support for 1) “how to ask for help from faculty,” and how to access people who could 2) “offer meaningful feedback on their research”, 3) “push them to think of things differently”, and 4) “hold them accountable in terms of their health and well being. In contrast, students in non-distance learning programs reported “more support in preparing for a job talk.”
Conclusion This study provides a comprehensive approach to understanding the landscape of doctoral social work education, through the eyes of recent graduates. Specifically, we uncover the strengths of programs as well as ways in which they can better support their students.